Little or Great Egret? Borneo (1 Viewer)

[dixonlau]

Local park, Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. 18th Oct 2020.

Not sure which which Egret it is. Both pic are same bird. My current guessing is Little Egret.

Thanks.

 

[Andy Adcock]

Short gape line so not Great.

 

[dixonlau]

Short gape line so not Great.

Thank you Andy.

 

[MJB]

Local park, Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. 18th Oct 2020.

Not sure which which Egret it is. Both pic are same bird. My current guessing is Little Egret.

Thanks.

The foliage obscures the toes and feet, which nevertheless do appear to be yellow. The resident ssp in the Sundas is nigripes (black feet); therefore this might be a vagrant garzetta, the nominate, which perhaps explains its gaunt, almost starving appearance?
MJB

 

[Nutcracker]

Agree with Little Egret - black legs, yellow feet. @MJB - doesn't look gaunt/starving to me? Just normal. Would nominate E.g. garzetta really be a vagrant there, rather than just a regular winter visitor?

 

[MJB]

Agree with Little Egret - black legs, yellow feet. @MJB - doesn't look gaunt/starving to me? Just normal. Would nominate E.g. garzetta really be a vagrant there, rather than just a regular winter visitor?

In IOC 10.2, no mention is made of non-breeding locations for the nominate or nigripes and so residency is implied, the former's southernmost distribution in that area being listed as India to Philippines. Perhaps ringing data might give some idea of movements. That said, nominate Little Egret is quite a coloniser, and so vagrancy shouldn't be unexpected. For example, I've seen Little Egret on Ascension Island. From memory, Pete Carr has recorded individuals on BIOT Indian Ocean islands, but I can't remember which ssp.
MJB

 

[Andy Adcock]

In IOC 10.2, no mention is made of non-breeding locations for the nominate or nigripes and so residency is implied, the former's southernmost distribution in that area being listed as India to Philippines. Perhaps ringing data might give some idea of movements. That said, nominate Little Egret is quite a coloniser, and so vagrancy shouldn't be unexpected. For example, I've seen Little Egret on Ascension Island. From memory, Pete Carr has recorded individuals on BIOT Indian Ocean islands, but I can't remember which ssp.
MJB

Not Pete Carr from Nottingham?

 

[MJB]

Not Pete Carr from Nottingham?

Ex-RM & Ex-SBS Major Peter Carr, currently lead author of Status and phenology of breeding seabirds and a review of Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas in the British Indian Ocean Territory, Bird Conservation International (2020).

As well as BIOT. works at:
Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent’s Park, London NW1 4RY, UK.
Environment & Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall TR10
9EZ, UK.
Centre for Ecology & Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall TR10 9EZ,
UK.

He's doing a brilliant job in campaigning for strong conservation policies in the Indian Ocean, including Diego Garcia.

Same one?
MJB

 

[Andy Adcock]

Not the same,
an old mate of mine who lived in Africa for many years, sadly deceased.

 

[Nutcracker]

In IOC 10.2, no mention is made of non-breeding locations for the nominate or nigripes and so residency is implied, ...

IOC don't generally give wintering ranges of taxa, only breeding distributions - can be very annoying at times!

Example:

Whinchat Saxicola rubetra (Linnaeus, 1758) EU : Europe to c Russia and nw Mongolia

No mention of Africa!

 

[KC Foggin]

Yes, Little Egret, just like our Snowy Egret

 

[Birdbrain22]

Yes, Little Egret, just like our Snowy Egret

Well not exactly like...