Yellow-billed vs Medium Egret (1 Viewer)

[Gregory Askew]

Besides when they're in breeding plumage, are there any features one could reliably point to for separating these "Intermediate" Egrets?

The reason I ask is that sightings in southwest Saudi are all now presumed to be Yellow-billed. However, in southern Oman, they're presumed to be Medium, and there are images of breeding plumaged birds in Macaulay Library to support this.

Since Saudi sometimes gets Asian vagrants like Cotton Pygmy-Goose and Pheasant-tailed Jacana, species that also regularly show up in Oman, I'm not sure we can rule out the possibly of Medium Egret reaching Saudi.

Any leads on sorting this out will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Jon.Bryant]

I haven’t checked this ID feature out fully, but there is an old thread on BirdForum stating that ‘Intermediate’ Egret is an increasing winter visitor to Salalah, and most birds show an indistinct dark tip to be bill, indicating Asian origin. Looking on BotW I can see a dusky tip to Medium and a rather pale tip to Yellow-billed, but as I say, I haven’t looked at all photos to see if this is a really consistent feature.

It is interesting that Medium is partially migratory, whereas Yellow-billed is meant to be mainly sedentary, though it does reach Cape Verde and has apparently reached Italy, Egypt and Jordan (though the later was in 1963, so I wonder If Medium was ruled out) and Yemen (although the latter are stated to also possibly be Medium) . I had wondered if birds from Africa may be ship assisted to Salalah in Oman, as there is a large trade between Somalia and Salalah (a million plus goats prior to Ramadan!), but this must be wrong if birds are Medium Egrets.

I suppose that both species could occur in Saudi Arabia, but with Yellow-billed more likely on the west coast.

 

[Gregory Askew]

I haven’t checked this ID feature out fully, but there is an old thread on BirdForum stating that ‘Intermediate’ Egret is an increasing winter visitor to Salalah, and most birds show an indistinct dark tip to be bill, indicating Asian origin. Looking on BotW I can see a dusky tip to Medium and a rather pale tip to Yellow-billed, but as I say, I haven’t looked at all photos to see if this is a really consistent feature.

It is interesting that Medium is partially migratory, whereas Yellow-billed is meant to be mainly sedentary, though it does reach Cape Verde and has apparently reached Italy, Egypt and Jordan (though the later was in 1963, so I wonder If Medium was ruled out) and Yemen (although the latter are stated to also possibly be Medium) . I had wondered if birds from Africa may be ship assisted to Salalah in Oman, as there is a large trade between Somalia and Salalah (a million plus goats prior to Ramadan!), but this must be wrong if birds are Medium Egrets.

I suppose that both species could occur in Saudi Arabia, but with Yellow-billed more likely on the west coast.

Thanks for weighing in, Jon.

Re dark tip to the bill, that's the impression I had been under. All of the birds documented in southwest Saudi have shown this feature, which led me to question the wisdom of bulk changing all "Intermediate" observations in eBird to Yellow-billed, despite the proximity to Africa.

However, some Yellow-billed in Macaulay Library, maybe 10%, show dark tips, such as this individual (ML67793221 - Medium Egret - Macaulay Library), which is nearly identical to this individual Medium from Malaysia (ML67793221 - Medium Egret - Macaulay Library).

To be honest, I'm not sure they can be safely separated except when in full breeding plumage. Not sure what then to do with Arabian records. Salalah receives vagrants from both Asia and Africa, so the presence of both can't be ruled out there either.

 

[cerw8385]

This paper might help: https://afo.birdlife.org.au/afo/index.php/afo/article/download/2270/2293.
"A. brachyrhyncha appears to be more vocal than the other two taxa"
"A. intermedia has a longer tail than A. plumifera (1 point), and A. brachyrhyncha has a longer tail than either of the other two taxa (2 points)."

I've not had any success trying to distinguish them from pictures, unfortunately.

 

[Gregory Askew]

This paper might help: https://afo.birdlife.org.au/afo/index.php/afo/article/download/2270/2293.
"A. brachyrhyncha appears to be more vocal than the other two taxa"
"A. intermedia has a longer tail than A. plumifera (1 point), and A. brachyrhyncha has a longer tail than either of the other two taxa (2 points)."

I've not had any success trying to distinguish them from pictures, unfortunately.

Hi. Thanks for sharing this.

The paper notes differences in tibia color in non-breeding birds--yellowish to pale brown in A. brachyrhyncha and dark green to brown/black in A. intermedia.

Pouring over images of both in Macaulay Library, tibia coloring in A. brachyrhyncha is noticeably lighter than A. intermedia in some images but there are several birds with quite dark tibias.

Ugh.

 

[MacNara]

I have just a casual interest in this topic, so no-one needs to go to a great deal of trouble to answer this query.

Intermediate Egret is a spring-summer-autumn visitor to my area in central south Honshu island Japan (Nara near Osaka and Kyoto).

As far as I can make out, the non-breeding, pre-breeding, colouration is a yellow bill with a black tip although they often already have a mostly black bill when they arrive. Post-breeding the bill reverts to yellow with a black tip. Some birds appear to have a wholly yellow bill post-breeding.

In breeding, the bill becomes mostly black and the yellow lores brighten up a little bit (but I don't remember having observed red or similar colouration). There are plumes on the back and the breast.

In Botswana, a few years ago, there was also a presumed intermediate which had a yellow bill with a black tip.

Maybe I have mis-read posts above, but I have tried to find photos of 'Yellow-billed Egret' in breeding plumage when it would presumably have an all-yellow and not black bill. I couldn't find any. Could anyone post links to such photos and say why with a yellow bill they are in breeding plumage?

Some post-breeding birds seem to have little or no black at the tip, thus having yellow bills .

Photos below.

1. Nara June breeding

2. Nara mid-August post-breeding

3 & 4. Nara late-August post-breeding (same day, same spot; not the same birds in the two photos (also a cattle egret for size comparison)

5 Chobe, Botswana, Africa December

 

[johnallcock]

I'm interested to see any outcome here, not only for separating Yellow-billed/Medium, but also separating Medium/Plumed.
I get the impression that these might be very difficult or impossible to separate outside the breeding season, rather like Pond Herons.

One thing I wanted to say is that I think you need to be careful if relying on a black tip to the bill - Medium doesn't always have a black tip in my experience.

However, some Yellow-billed in Macaulay Library, maybe 10%, show dark tips, such as this individual (ML67793221 - Medium Egret - Macaulay Library), which is nearly identical to this individual Medium from Malaysia (ML67793221 - Medium Egret - Macaulay Library).

I think you've accidentally entered the wrong link for one of the birds here - both links are for the same observation (they're not just nearly identical - they are identical! )

Maybe I have mis-read posts above, but I have tried to find photos of 'Yellow-billed Egret' in breeding plumage when it would presumably have an all-yellow and not black bill. I couldn't find any. Could anyone post links to such photos and say why with a yellow bill they are in breeding plumage?

These aren't too difficult to find online. See below (at least I hope these are - I've never seen Yellow-billed, but this is what I understood they should look like). The bill is largely orange, rather than yellow, and note that the lores and tibia have also changed colour in breeding condition.

ML608653826 - Yellow-billed Egret - Macaulay Library

Macaulay Library ML608653826; © Mason Flint; Western Cape, South Africa

macaulaylibrary.org

ML611301351 - Yellow-billed Egret - Macaulay Library

Macaulay Library ML611301351; © Bertina K; Nairobi, Kenya

macaulaylibrary.org

ML613644447 - Yellow-billed Egret - Macaulay Library

Macaulay Library ML613644447; © Anabel&Geoff Harries; Central, Kenya

macaulaylibrary.org

ML284883181 - Yellow-billed Egret - Macaulay Library

Macaulay Library ML284883181; © Paul Cools; Banjul, Gambia

macaulaylibrary.org

ML52730951 - Yellow-billed Egret - Macaulay Library

Macaulay Library ML52730951; © Ryne Rutherford; North-West, Botswana

macaulaylibrary.org

And a word of warning to anyone looking up photos for comparison: there's quite a lot of mis-ID'ed birds online. Checking through photos, I've found pictures of Great, Cattle and Little Egrets identified as one of the 'Intermediate' group.

 

[MacNara]

I'm interested to see any outcome here, not only for separating Yellow-billed/Medium, but also separating Medium/Plumed.
I get the impression that these might be very difficult or impossible to separate outside the breeding season, rather like Pond Herons.

One thing I wanted to say is that I think you need to be careful if relying on a black tip to the bill - Medium doesn't always have a black tip in my experience.

I think you've accidentally entered the wrong link for one of the birds here - both links are for the same observation (they're not just nearly identical - they are identical! )

These aren't too difficult to find online. See below (at least I hope these are - I've never seen Yellow-billed, but this is what I understood they should look like). The bill is largely orange, rather than yellow, and note that the lores and tibia have also changed colour in breeding condition.

ML608653826 - Yellow-billed Egret - Macaulay Library

Macaulay Library ML608653826; © Mason Flint; Western Cape, South Africa

macaulaylibrary.org

ML611301351 - Yellow-billed Egret - Macaulay Library

Macaulay Library ML611301351; © Bertina K; Nairobi, Kenya

macaulaylibrary.org

ML613644447 - Yellow-billed Egret - Macaulay Library

Macaulay Library ML613644447; © Anabel&Geoff Harries; Central, Kenya

macaulaylibrary.org

ML284883181 - Yellow-billed Egret - Macaulay Library

Macaulay Library ML284883181; © Paul Cools; Banjul, Gambia

macaulaylibrary.org

ML52730951 - Yellow-billed Egret - Macaulay Library

Macaulay Library ML52730951; © Ryne Rutherford; North-West, Botswana

macaulaylibrary.org

And a word of warning to anyone looking up photos for comparison: there's quite a lot of mis-ID'ed birds online. Checking through photos, I've found pictures of Great, Cattle and Little Egrets identified as one of the 'Intermediate' group.

Thank you John. Those links you posted are very very different from any Intermediate / Medium I've ever seen. Indeed, why aren't they called Red-billed?

 

[MacNara]

This paper might help: https://afo.birdlife.org.au/afo/index.php/afo/article/download/2270/2293.
"A. brachyrhyncha appears to be more vocal than the other two taxa"
"A. intermedia has a longer tail than A. plumifera (1 point), and A. brachyrhyncha has a longer tail than either of the other two taxa (2 points)."

I've not had any success trying to distinguish them from pictures, unfortunately.

Just to support the photos in the paper referenced by cerw8385 in post#4: posted below which I hope is fair use.

Full breeding Intermediate in my area. Very different from the other two (former) ssp.

Intermediate in my area show various breeding features, but as far as I know only the full set for a day or two, including the red eye seen here. The same seems to be the case for other egrets - i.e. absolutely full breeding plumage - especially any eye colour changes and very deep lore colouration - is only there for a few days.

 

[Gregory Askew]

Thank you for the replies. Based on this discussion and what I've been able dig up online, I've written the following post on my website. I've pretty much come to @johnallcock 's conclusion: Medium and Yellow-billed likely can't be separated in the field when not in breeding/courtship plumage.

Mission Impossible? Separating Yellow-billed from Medium Egret in Arabia

In 2023, eBird released a taxonomic update, and as with previous revisions, birders on the Arabian Peninsula have found themselves grappling with the distinction between two formerly conspecific but now nearly identical species. Think Mediterranean and Turkestan Short-toed Larks, the status of...

www.saudibirding.com

I welcome feedback.