sbiswas.geo
Well-known member
Hello,
Sharing photos of a white Egret that has been the subject of a long debate and opinions are now divided between Western Reef Heron and Little Egret. These photos were clicked by (C) Santanb M in the spring of 2019 (April), at the coast of Bay of Bengal. One of the photos show three white egrets in a line - the right two are Little Egrets but the leftmost bird has thicker greenish legs. Except its legs, structurally, all three look similar - same height/jizz and closeup of bill resembles more towards a Little Egret. A Western Reef Heron is extremely rare in Eastern India. Almost no verifiable records exist, except one that we got this month from Sundarban National Park mangroves ((C) Abhishek Das). But it could have been an overlooked species as well because of its similarities with Little, which is a breeding resident and abundant in our brackish waters.
Would like to know what others think.
Thanks.
Sharing photos of a white Egret that has been the subject of a long debate and opinions are now divided between Western Reef Heron and Little Egret. These photos were clicked by (C) Santanb M in the spring of 2019 (April), at the coast of Bay of Bengal. One of the photos show three white egrets in a line - the right two are Little Egrets but the leftmost bird has thicker greenish legs. Except its legs, structurally, all three look similar - same height/jizz and closeup of bill resembles more towards a Little Egret. A Western Reef Heron is extremely rare in Eastern India. Almost no verifiable records exist, except one that we got this month from Sundarban National Park mangroves ((C) Abhishek Das). But it could have been an overlooked species as well because of its similarities with Little, which is a breeding resident and abundant in our brackish waters.
Would like to know what others think.
Thanks.
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