| Reddish Egret (Egretta rufescens) |
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Cayo Coco, Cuba February 2005 The Reddish Egret is distributed near the coasts of southern USA, the Caribbean and Pacific coasts of Mexico, the West Indies and the north of Colombia and Venezuela. It is found in shallow coastal waters where it breeds on islands or mangroves. |
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There are two morphs which are often found together (see the last two photos) and often also breed together. In both morphs the bill is pale pink to flesh colour with a black tip covering about 1/3 of the bill. The legs are slate blue. The dark morph has a rufous head and neck and is otherwise slate grey. The neck looks very shaggy. The white morph is entirely white. | |||
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It is a very active feeder as can be seen in the sequence of the first 5 photos. These were taken in a period of under 2 minutes and also show how the bird forms a canopy with its wings to take the glare off the surface of the water and/or attract fish into the shade. | |||
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