Egret for ID - Coastal West Bengal, India (1 Viewer)

[sbiswas.geo]

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.

 

[Butty]

I don't think it's wise to worry too much about herons' bare-part colours - they're so given to variation. If reef heron is so rare there, the bird is at least as or more likely to be an unusual/aberrant little egret.

 

[sbiswas.geo]

I don't think it's wise to worry too much about herons' bare-part colours - they're so given to variation. If reef heron is so rare there, the bird is at least as or more likely to be an unusual/aberrant little egret.

Yes, Little Egrets show much variation in leg colour. But it is the thickness that is bothering us. Those legs look unusually thick compared to the other two birds.

 

[Butty]

Those legs look unusually thick compared to the other two birds.

Can't say I'm convinced. And subtle differences in length thickness are highly dependent on angle of view. (Even in North American Accipiter ID, where it's held to be a big deal, it is in fact useless as a field/photo feature.)

 

[Muppit17]

I have to say if I saw your egret on the coast in Dubai, where I used to live, I would simply have counted it as a white phase Western Reef and moved on.

The lack of egrettes, the yellow/ green 'stripe' up the leg and the longer and more parallel bill shape all look typical.

 

[mummymonkey]

I have to say if I saw your egret on the coast in Dubai, where I used to live, I would simply have counted it as a white phase Western Reef and moved on.

The lack of egrettes, the yellow/ green 'stripe' up the leg and the longer and more parallel bill shape all look typical.

I used to live further up the Gulf and would have done the same.

 

[sbiswas.geo]

I have to say if I saw your egret on the coast in Dubai, where I used to live, I would simply have counted it as a white phase Western Reef and moved on.

The lack of egrettes, the yellow/ green 'stripe' up the leg and the longer and more parallel bill shape all look typical.

But bills are almost same size. In fact, seems tad short for this bird, in comparison to the other two. Superimposed in Photoshop at original scale for all. No resize.