Cattle Egret (Western Cattle Egret) Bubulcus ibis
This species is one of the most cosmopolitan species in the world being common in nearly every continent. In the UK though it is a rare visitor from southern Europe although subject to occasional small influxes. Two recent winters saw especially significant influxes, concentrated in the south-west where the species bred for the first time in 2008.
Some recent Norfolk records were subject to suspicion as a contingent of six birds escaped upon delivery to Pensthorpe a while back, and cropped up at a number of sites around the county and beyond. They were all supposed to be colour-ringed, but in some cases the rings proved almost impossible to see. However, with no reports of ringed birds for some time now, and following two influxes into the south-west, the last well-watched Cattle Egret to appear in Norfolk managed to attract plenty of interest without its credentials being challenged.
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Cattle Egret, Fontvielle (Bouche-du-Rhone, France), 30th May 2000
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Cattle Egret with cattle, Mas de l'Ilon (Bouche-du-Rhone, France), 12th September 2002
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The Asian race of Cattle Egret, coromandus, is sometimes treated as a distinct species (Eastern Cattle Egret Bubulcus coromandus). A number of escaped Cattle Egrets that have turned up in the UK have belonged to this form and it is a possible vagrant to Europe. The individual below is believed to belong to this taxon - it was photographed in Oman where this taxon is a rare vagrant.
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apparent Eastern Cattle Egret, Hilf Water Treatment Works (Masirah, Oman), 6th November 2017
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