Beef Cattle Around the World
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Cattle on Wörth island on a hot spring day.
Wörth is the largest island in the Bavarian Staffelsee lake and the only permanently inhabited island in the lake.
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Cattle Egret.
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Cattle Egrets follow large animals or machines and eat invertebrates stirred up from the ground. They will fly toward smoke from long distances away, to catch insects fleeing a fire.
Cattle Egret - Bubulcus ibis
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The cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis) is a cosmopolitan species of heron (family Ardeidae) found in the tropics, subtropics and warm temperate zones.
It is a white bird adorned with buff plumes in the breeding season. It nests in colonies, usually near bodies of water and often with other wading birds. The nest is a platform of sticks in trees or shrubs. Cattle egrets exploit drier and open habitats more than other heron species. Their feeding habitats include seasonally inundated grasslands, pastures, farmlands, wetlands and rice paddies. They often accompany cattle or other large mammals, catching insect and small vertebrate prey disturbed by these animals. Some populations of the cattle egret are migratory and others show post-breeding dispersal.
The cattle egret has undergone one of the most rapid and wide reaching natural expansions of any bird species.It was originally native to parts of Southern Spain and Portugal, tropical and subtropical Africa and humid tropical and subtropical Asia. In the end of the 19th century it began expanding its range into southern Africa, first breeding in the Cape Province in 1908. Cattle egrets were first sighted in the Americas on the boundary of Guiana and Suriname in 1877, having apparently flown across the Atlantic Ocean. It was not until the 1930s that the species is thought to have become established in that area.
The species first arrived in North America in 1941 (these early sightings were originally dismissed as escapees), bred in Florida in 1953, and spread rapidly, breeding for the first time in Canada in 1962. It is now commonly seen as far west as California. It was first recorded breeding in Cuba in 1957, in Costa Rica in 1958, and in Mexico in 1963, although it was probably established before that. In Europe, the species had historically declined in Spain and Portugal, but in the latter part of the 20th century it expanded back through the Iberian Peninsula, and then began to colonise other parts of Europe; southern France in 1958, northern France in 1981 and Italy in 1985.
Breeding in the United Kingdom was recorded for the first time in 2008 only a year after an influx seen in the previous year. In 2008, cattle egrets were also reported as having moved into Ireland for the first time. This trend has continued and cattle egrets have become more numerous in southern Britain with influxes in some numbers during the non breeding seasons of 2007/08 and 2016/17. They bred in Britain again in 2017, following an influx in the previous winter, and may become established there.
In Australia, the colonisation began in the 1940s, with the species establishing itself in the north and east of the continent. It began to regularly visit New Zealand in the 1960s. Since 1948 the cattle egret has been permanently resident in Israel. Prior to 1948 it was only a winter visitor.
Wikipedia: The cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis) is a cosmopolitan species of heron (family Ardeidae) found in the tropics, subtropics, and warm-temperate zones. It is the only member of the monotypic genus Bubulcus, although some authorities regard its two subspecies as full species, the western cattle egret and the eastern cattle egret. Despite the similarities in plumage to the egrets of the genus Egretta, it is more closely related to the herons of Ardea. Originally native to parts of Asia, Africa, and Europe, it has undergone a rapid expansion in its distribution and successfully colonised much of the rest of the world in the last century.
Conservation status: Least Concern
Wikipedia: The cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis) is a cosmopolitan species of heron (family Ardeidae) found in the tropics, subtropics, and warm-temperate zones. It is the only member of the monotypic genus Bubulcus, although some authorities regard its two subspecies as full species, the western cattle egret and the eastern cattle egret. Despite the similarities in plumage to the egrets of the genus Egretta, it is more closely related to the herons of Ardea. Originally native to parts of Asia, Africa, and Europe, it has undergone a rapid expansion in its distribution and successfully colonised much of the rest of the world in the last century.
Conservation status: Least Concern
Cattle Egret are opportunistic feeders and follow large animals around to catch insects. It is estimated that they gather 50% more food using only two-thirds as much energy when feeding with livestock.
Thanks for your views, faves and supportive comments. These are always very much appreciated.
Please don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved.
On a Drive to Sheep River Alberta to hopefully see some Bighorn Sheep this Rancher was moving his cattle down the highway.
Not something you come across everyday.
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Greatly appreciated.
I took probably my last trip, (of many) of our stay in South Carolina to the Port Royal Cypress Wetlands on this evening. One of the birds I've really wanted to see is a Cattle Egret. I've seen pictures of them and they seemed to be really unique and beautiful. As the light was fading and I was ready to leave I saw a different color Egret fly by and land in a nearby tree. Sure enough it was my bird! I didn't want to goof this one up and was concerned about the fading late day light. I was delighted to find in editing that things worked out and I got some decent captures and even some in flight shots as it flew away. Great day of birding!
The Cattle Egrets are in fine breeding form here in South Florida. This guy is bringing a bit of nesting material home to his mate.
Cattle Egret.
taken on holiday in Brisbane late 2017...
Cattle egrets are small, white birds tht sit comfortably on the back of a cow, an ox, or a buffalo. Cattle egrets sometimes hunt like other wading birds, catching fish and frogs along the water’s edge. But, most often, they follow herds of livestock to eat the grasshoppers that are stirred up by the cattle’s hoofs.
Cattle egrets eat little bugs that bite and tend to bother the cattle.
Markham park
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The cattle egret is a cosmopolitan species of heron found in the tropics, subtropics and warm temperate zones. It is the only member of the monotypic genus Bubulcus, although some authorities regard two of its subspecies as full species, the western cattle egret and the eastern cattle egret. Wikipedia
Thinks he's an eagle....
Bubulcus ibis
ORDER: PELECANIFORMES
FAMILY: ARDEIDAE
Williamson County, Texas, USA; June 2, 2015.
IMG 0778
When the sun is below the horizon or it's too dark for shutter speeds fast enough to freeze birds in flight, I enjoy shooting blurs. Here I was using 1/60th of a second. It's necessary to pan at the same speed the bird is moving and hope to get the head sharp. It's typical not to get any keepers but still fun. This is a Cattle Egret, just starting it's nest building in my area of southeast Florida. When they are in breeding plumage, they get the yellow cap and chest as shown here. (Casmerodius albus)
I think I read a long time ago that when chicks grab the parent's beak like this, it is to encourage regurgitation so they can be fed. But I am not sure so if someone from the sunny south can confirm if this is true, I would very much appreciate. it. Taken on the Big Island of Hawaii.
Thank you to Tara & Pam for confirming.
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