Little Egret?
The egret found by Chuck Chalfant. Noticing the dark lores he began contacting others. Here are the pictures I took through my scope and Frank Haas’ scope which had a higher zoom.
Click on the images to zoom in or go to the Picasa gallery where I also have two videos. I have also posted closer crops of several of the images here.
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About Drew
I am a young birder living and birding in Pennsylvania. I also enjoy digiscoping and bird photography.
Contact me if you have any questions about birds and birding in PA.
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Drew, National Geo. states that the legs on a Little Egret are always entirely black. Your photos clearly show pale yellow or yellow/green legs. Wayne
The 1992 article on Little Egret in the Americas by William Murphy (Colonial Waterbirds 15(1) 113-123 states that leg color ranges from dark olive green to dark brown to black. Characteristics of the bill shape and length, I think, are favorable for identification as Little Egret, but the photos make me ambivalent because of lighting, exposure and distance from the subject. In at least one photo I see a hint of yellow in the lores, but whether that is artifactual or not I can’t say.
–Steve
Wayne- I think the light legs is an artifact of the high zoom and crop that was required from these shots. I remember much darker legs than recorded in my photos.
Steve- There didn’t seem to be yellow in the face when I saw the bird. I think it may be yellow bleeding in from the eye. For quite a few of the photos I had my scope and camera on max zoom to try and get closer to the bird.
Drew,
I’ll add my two cents as well. I would agree that there didn’t appear to be any yellow in the lores. The lores were definitely dark in color. I am a little more ambivalent on the legs given the lighting and distance. My impression was that they were fairly dark–perhaps darker greenish in color. I didn’t get the feeling they were jet black, but I also didn’t see any yellow coloration other than the feet. Part of the problem was that I didn’t get to see the lower half of the legs other than when the bird took flight.
–Jonathan
The feeding behavior shown in the videos is quite unlike Snowy Egret… the neck is always extended like a Great Egret, rather than being scrunched up, which is a serious field mark for Little. The bird also holds itself unlike a Snowy, and would be very sleek for a Snowy as well.
Plumage and skin colors are hard to pick out in the photos due to the distance of the bird, and I think more photos may be required to appease those who need all marks to match up. Even without those colors, I feel this is a very strong candidate for Little Egret. But please wait for more expert input!
Dear colleagues,
My opinion is that this bird not a Little Egret because:
- the base of the bill (lora) show hint of yellow color. In case of LE this part it could be grey or bluish in non breeding plumage.
- the base of the lover mandible have yellow color too, which is very rare in case of LE but is common in the case of Snowy Egrets.
- the color of the leg in case of LE even in the non breeding plumage is still black or uniform dark, contrary this bird’s legs which is more close to bright green with darker part on foreleg.
- in these pictures is hard to detect unambiguously, but the top of the LE’s bill is more pointed than the Snowy’s.
- unfortunately this pictures did not shows us, but is good to know that LE’s always shows yellow feet, strongly contrasting with the tarsus even in winter ore non breeding plumage.
Szilard, Romania
All the photos here show yellowish color on the legs. Cramp and Simmons Birds of the Western Palearctic, Snow and Perrins Concise BWP, Kushlan and Hancock The Herons Handbook, and Mullarney et al. Collins Guide all state that Little Egret has black to dark legs and yellow feet.
In one photo the lores look a little yellow to me, as well.
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The legs of [3] juvenile Little Egrets [Egretta garzetta] here on Anglesey, N Wales, are definitely, clearly, fairly bright yellow. Period! Despite what the ‘experts’ say, & I have illustrated a few field guides myself, why no-one has noticed this before I cannot fathom!
They do now [end October] seem to be getter grayer in some individuals, & other adults seem to have varying amounts of yellow on their legs as well, for some yrs, as well as, as usual, their feet. [This is probably the first time they have bred here on the isle, though they have nested in about 4 other locations in N West wales since they arrived, only about 10 yrs back.
But before you all bleat ‘Global warming’, we also have birds coming SOUTH to breed in the lst 50 yrs or so: Fulmar, Grt & Arctic Skuas, & most recent of all, Common Eiders, etc.