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Heron ID (1 Viewer)

Joern Lehmhus

Joern Lehmhus

Well-known member
Hi all,
I saw this heron/egret in 2 days ago in Belgium. Size like grey heron, and it was in a meadow (or maybe winter cereal field), hunting probably on voles. I suspect it is a hybrid great white egret x grey heron, as especially the neck was more slender than in grey heron. patternwise it resembled most an extremely bleached grey heron but some things, for example head pattern, differed, as you see.
But the hybrids of which I have seen photos so far were whiteheaded or mainly whiteheaded.
So what do you think, is this really a hybrid? Is this head pattern in the range of hybrids?

Joern
 

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I'd suggest a leucistic (or pigment deficient) Grey Heron. The fine striations on the neck and pattern of white/grey plumage surely point away from Great Egret. Is the gape line extent accurate?
 
Assuming the art is accurate, the bill is too stout for Great Egret, but OK for Grey Heron. Hybrid? Possible, but no idea myself.
 
Thanks to all comments.
Well, I can not 100% say that I got it totally right. What I can say is that the head appeared more like grey heron but the neck appeared fairly slender - more like great white egret. When seing the bird i had the impression of something in between the species.

When I look at the web, to me these pictures show a very close fit. If these are really hybrids the one i saw must also have been a hybrid. if they are grey heron , I´d see mine as leucistic grey heron.

https://www.artportalen.se/Image/1461407

https://www.artportalen.se/Image/1461409

so what do you think of these Swedish birds ?

However, there are other pictures, this here structurally seems closer to great white
http://clanga.com/gallery/Ptaki rzadkie i nieliczne/__57f47131d4345165304185636746d2e7.jpg
 
The Swedish birds are a very close match to your drawing (in all details of spotting, gape line, bill pattern, etc). If those are confirmed as hybrids then I'd say that's a good explanation to your bird as well and no leucism is involved after all.
 
Your bird and the Swedish pair (brood?) are clearly the same thing and look intermediate between Grey Heron and Great White Egret in both plumage and structure to me.

The Polish(?) bird, on the other hand, seems to me to have a thinner bill and more "delicate" build than even a "normal" GWE. I wonder if there is any precedent for a possible Grey Heron x Little Egret? Sounds a bit unlikely given the size difference, but stranger things have happened (Mallard x Teal, Peregrine x Merlin, Capercaillie x Black Grouse...)
 
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