| Chinese egret | |
|---|---|
 | |
| In Zengwen River, Taiwan | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Pelecaniformes |
| Family: | Ardeidae |
| Genus: | Egretta |
| Species: | E. eulophotes |
| Binomial name | |
| Egretta eulophotes (R. Swinhoe, 1860) | |
 | |
| Yellow: breeding, green: year-round, blue: nonbreeding | |
The Chinese egret or Swinhoe's egret (Egretta eulophotes) is a threatened species of egret from east Asia, first described by Robert Swinhoe in 1860.
The Chinese egret averages 68 cm in height. The plumage is white throughout the bird's life and resembles the little egret (Egretta garzetta). Outside the breeding season the bill is dusky with the basal portion being tannish peach and the lores and legs yellow green, while the iris is yellow. All individuals are similar in this season. In the breeding season the adults develop a luxuriant crest which is sometimes over 11 cm long. It also develops long lanceolate plumes on its breast and dorsal plumes extending beyond the tail, called aigrettes and similar to those of little egret. The bare parts change too, the bill becomes a bright, almost orange, yellow while the lores turn bright blue and the legs black with yellow feet. [2]
The Chinese egret breeds on small islands off the coasts of far eastern Russia, North Korea, South Korea and mainland China. It formerly bred in Taiwan and the New Territories of Hong Kong although it is now only a non-breeding visitor or passage migrant to these countries. It is also a non-breeding passage migrant or winterer in Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak, Singapore, Indonesia and Brunei. The most important wintering areas are the Eastern Visayas, i.e. the islands of Leyte, Bohol and Cebu in the Philippines, and the Malaysian states of Sarawak and Selangor where between one third and a half of the world population are believed to winter, based on the results of a winter census undertaken in 2004/05. The total population is estimated at 2,600–3,400 individuals. During the decade from 2002 to 2012 there was no significant decline in the population of this species, and there are newly discovered colonies off the coast of southern China which may represent increased observer effort, but could also indicate a real growth in the population. [3]
It is classified as a vulnerable species, mostly threatened by habitat loss.
Outside the breeding season the Chinese egret occurs in shallow tidal estuaries, mudflats and bays, occasionally visiting rice fields and fish ponds. All recent breeding records have been from offshore islands. [3]
In South Korea the first returning Chinese egrets, almost always already in full-breeding plumage, start to arrive back in mid-April. Their first appearance is in small numbers on offshore islands, especially in stormy weather, with immigration over by mid-May. The period of spring migration is therefore rather short, and most birds are thought to arrive in their Korean breeding colonies without staging anywhere along the Korean coast. The autumn migration is rather more leisurely with many egrets appearing to move southward along the west coast during August and September, before departing Korea probably out through the southwest of the peninsula across the Yellow Sea.
Other Chinese egrets probably move westward directly across from Gyeonggi Bay toward the Shandong Peninsula, and then down the Chinese coast. During August and September 1998 two survey circuits were conducted along most of the west and south coast of South Korea and provided some insight into the suspected autumn migration strategy, with around 475 Chinese egrets found between August 18 and September 2, increasing to 615 between September 13 and 28. Most were found in the northwestern Gyeonggi Bay, which also holds most of South Korea's breeding birds, but significant counts were made at several more southern sites, especially in the second survey circuit. [4]
The nuptial plumes of the Chinese egret, like other egrets, were in demand for decorating hats. They had been used for this purpose since at least the 17th century but in the 19th century it became a major craze and the number of egret skins passing through dealers reached into the millions. This is thought to have contributed to the decline of all of the white Egretta species. The greatest modern threat is habitat loss and reclamation of tidal flats and estuarine habitats, and through pollution. [3]
Egrets are herons, generally long-legged wading birds, that have white or buff plumage, developing fine plumes during the breeding season. Egrets are not a biologically distinct group from herons and have the same build.
Bachman's warbler was an extinct passerine migratory bird. This warbler was a migrant, breeding in swampy blackberry and cane thickets of the Southeastern and Midwestern United States and wintering in Cuba. There are some reports of the bird from the twenty-first century, but none are widely accepted. Some authorities accept a Louisiana sighting in August 1988 as confirmed, but the last uncontroversial sightings date to the 1960s.
The great egret (Ardea alba), also known as the common egret, large egret, or great white egret or great white heron, is a large, widely distributed egret. The four subspecies are found in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and southern Europe. Recently, it has also been spreading to more northern areas of Europe. Distributed across most of the tropical and warmer temperate regions of the world, it builds tree nests in colonies close to water.
The snowy egret is a small white heron. The genus name comes from Provençal French for the little egret, aigrette, which is a diminutive of aigron, 'heron'. The species name thula is the Araucano term for the black-necked swan, applied to this species in error by Chilean naturalist Juan Ignacio Molina in 1782.
The little egret is a species of small heron in the family Ardeidae. It is a white bird with a slender black beak, long black legs and, in the western race, yellow feet. As an aquatic bird, it feeds in shallow water and on land, consuming a variety of small creatures. It breeds colonially, often with other species of water birds, making a platform nest of sticks in a tree, bush or reed bed. A clutch of three to five bluish-green eggs is laid and incubated by both parents for about three weeks. The young fledge at about six weeks of age.
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Egretta is a genus of medium-sized herons, mostly breeding in warmer climates.
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The yellow-billed egret is a species of heron, a medium sized heron. This species is found in Sub-Saharan Africa. Until 2023 the yellow-billed egret was regarded as a subspecies of the intermediate egret of Asia, as was the plumed egret of Australia and Oceania.
The western cattle egret is a species of heron found in the tropics, subtropics and warm temperate zones. Most taxonomic authorities lump this species and the eastern cattle egret together, but some separate them. 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.
Media related to Egretta eulophotes at Wikimedia Commons
Data related to Chinese egret at Wikispecies