Cattle Egret

Bubulcus ibis

The western cattle egret is a species of heron found in the tropics, subtropics and warm temperate zones. Formerly, most taxonomic authorities lumped this species and the eastern cattle egret together, but the two cattle egrets are now treated as separate species. Despite the similarities in plumage to the egrets of the genus Egretta, it is more closely related to the herons of Ardea. Originally native to parts of Africa, southwest Asia and southern Europe, it has undergone a rapid expansion in its distribution and successfully colonised much of the New World in the last century. Source

Where it is now

In the last 8 weeks this bird was recorded 55,476 times across 84 areas (each area is a 5 degree square).

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Movement and weather

Each season it is first heard regularly where daytime highs are around 24°C (typically 21 to 29°C, from 27 areas).

Over the weeks it was present in the past year, its centre in North America ranged from 19°N in June to 33°N in August, about 1,500 km apart.

Arrival dates

The week it was first heard regularly in each region, after at least six weeks away. Dates differ from south to north, so a region has a range.

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Figures are effort corrected and come from automatic sound identification, which makes mistakes. How this is measured and how it compares with human observers.