Cattle Egret ( Bubulcus ibis, family: Ardeidae)

cattle Egret kruger national park The Cattle Egret (Latin name Bubulcus ibis) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 71 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 592 also a picture of the Cattle Egret on page 592. The Cattle Egret belongs to the family of birds classified as Ardeidae. According to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology the Cattle Egret is also known by these other names: Buff-backed Heron.

The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps

The Cattle Egret is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park. It is however a common resident

In terms of distribution of the Cattle Egret in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Cattle Egret : see above distribution map.

The Cattle Egret.

Kruger Park Cattle EgretIdentification assistance for this avian species ...

One of the first indicators to take note of when trying to identify a bird is it relative size. For example how big is the bird compared to a well known familiar bird. The Cattle Egret is a largish bird about the same size as a Pied Crow. The height of the Cattle Egret is about 54 cms and its weight is about 340 gms

The male and female Cattle Egret have the same plumage and colours

  • Head is white.
  • Eye is red.
  • Bill is orange.
  • Throat is white.
  • Back is white.
  • Legs are black.

This bird has long legs.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Cattle Egret feeds on the ground and in or around water mainly

Invertebrates

Aquatic life forms

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The Cattle Egret is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Bubulcus ibis will seek out a new mate

The nesting habit of Cattle Egret is to create the nest on water. The bird lays eggs which are blue, green in colour and number between 2 to 6

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Cattle Egret are: wetlands

You will normally see the Cattle Egret in pairs or flocks and not as single birds.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Ilanda

Zulu ... iLanda/inGevu/umLindankomo

Afrikaans ...Veereier (Bosluisvol)

German ... Kuhreiher

Portuguese ... Gara-boieira

French ... Hron garde-boeufs

Dutch ... Koereiger

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For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...

Robert's 7th edition number ... 71

The main reference source for this data was "Roberts - Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition" . Other references were "Newmans Birds of the Kruger Park" by Keith Newman published circa 1980 . Names in foreign languages were obtained from the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town website , www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za