Scientific name: Bubulcus ibis
The cattle egret is a stocky heron with an 88–96 cm (35–38 in) wingspan. It has a relatively short thick neck, a sturdy bill, and a hunched posture. The non-breeding adult has mainly white plumage, a yellow bill and greyish-yellow legs. During the breeding season, adults of the nominate western subspecies develop orange-buff plumes on the back, breast and crown, and the bill, legs and irises become bright red for a brief period prior to pairing. The sexes are similar, but the male is marginally larger and has slightly longer breeding plumes than the female; juvenile birds lack coloured plumes and have a black bill.
Historically confined to Asia and tropical Africa, but since the late 19th Century it has spread across the world, to southern Europe, north-eastern South America, Australia, New Zealand and sub-Saharan Africa. It is very common across most of southern Africa, while more scarce in the arid parts of Namibia, Botswana and the Northern Cape. It generally prefers open grassland, grassy savanna, man-made fields and agricultural land, occasionally moving to the seashore.
It mainly eats insects, doing most of its foraging by walking on the ground, chasing down and stabbing its prey. As its name suggests, it also associates with livestock and other large mammals, perching on their backs to glean ectoparasites and hawk insects that the mammal disturbs when moving around.
