Help with ID please

Taken today at Juniper Point COE, Gordonville, TX.

It was close to a adult Great Egret, but this bird has yellow legs.

Attachment 129748

Thanks in advance

C M

Hi CM- So you noticed this was a small egret, and the nice yellow cap and breast patch is pretty obvious here, as is the relatively short, thick yellow bill. All this makes it a Cattle Egret. The species is native to southern Europe and parts of Asia but has expanded its range hugely. It arrived in North America in the early 1940s after first jumping the Atlantic Ocean to northern South America in the 1930s.

The habitat is good as well. Cattle Egrets like to hunt in grass as compared to Great Egrets which usually hunt in the water.

First Cattle Egret I have saw with brown/tan on chest and head, they always been white before.

Thanks for the ID.

C M

CM, the adults get that toasted marshmallow look in the spring. They'll go white in the fall.

I like the toasted marshmallow description Paul!

Just to say that like all herons and egrets I am aware of, the Cattle Egret is absolutely spectacular in breeding plumage, especially around the head.