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PLATE 16: HERONS III
Great Egret Ardea alba WV, PM
L: 95. W: 155. Largest white heron with long, angular neck often stretched to full extent. In
breeding plumage note scapular plumes, black bill with yellow base and black legs, yellowish above
the joint. Winter adult and juvenile have yellow bill and blackish-green or brownish legs. Told in all
plumages from Intermediate Egret by longer, thinner bill and black gape-line extending behind
eye. Sedate in flight and on ground. Habitat Wetlands and rivers. Nests colonially in reeds or trees.
Note Passage and winter hatched. Smaller eastern subspecies modestus is rare breeder in Iran, and
occasional visitor to SE Arabia. [Alt: Great White Egret, Western Great Egret]Intermediate Egret Egretta intermedia pm, wv
L: 65. W: 110. All white; between Great Egret and Little Egret in size. Bill orange-yellow; in non-
breeding season usually has black bill tip in Asian subspecies, intermedia, which is increasingly
common, especially in S. Oman (though bill all-black in breeding season). Yellowish facial skin and
blackish legs with brownish-grey joints and tibia. Most easily confused with Great Egret but note
smaller size, shorter neck and shorter, stouter bill. Best told by very short gape-line, which does
not extend behind eye (as it does in Great Egret). Can appear similar to Little Egret and white
morph of Western Reef Heron but larger, with longer legs and blackish feet; bill also brighter yellow
and straight. Habitat Wetlands, coastal and inland. Note Passage and winter hatched; vagrant
UAE, Yemen.Little Egret Egretta garzetta WV, PM
L: 60. W: 90. Graceful, clean white egret which, in adult plumage, has all-black bill and black legs
with yellow feet. In breeding season shows long, delicate plumes on nape and mantle. Juvenile has
brownish-green legs and pinkish base to lower mandible. May be confused with white morph of
Western Reef Heron, which see. Told from cattle egrets by larger size, bill colour and lack of buffish
wash to plumage. Voice Throaty grunting raaak in flight. Habitat Wetlands; nests colonially in trees
and reedbeds. Note Passage and winter hatched.Western Reef Heron Egretta gularis RB, WV
L: 60. W: 90. White, dark and intermediate morphs occur; subspecies schistacea (Indian Reef
Heron) occurs. White morph similar to Little Egret but less elegant, thicker-billed with curved
culmen giving slightly drooping look. Bill in all plumages is pale brown to yellowish, usually with
reddish flush in breeding season. Legs dark olive-brown, but tarsus often greyer-greenish up rear,
sometimes also on lower forepart or even entirely greenish, with the feet generally greenish or
yellow (as Little Egret), very rarely rosy. Outside breeding season facial skin yellow or greenish-
yellow (blue-grey in Little Egret). Dark morph slate-grey with white chin and throat and occasionally
a few white flight feathers; juvenile dark morph is paler grey than adult with whitish on foreneck,
breast and belly; like adult can show white feathers in wing. Juvenile white morph often has grey
feathers in plumage. See also Intermediate Egret. Feeds from rocks or by slowly wading in shallow
water, along tide edge or beach with occasional sudden dash after prey, often with wings flailing.
Voice Guttural grrurr. Habitat Coastal, especially tidal flats; rarely inland; nests colonially in
mangroves, low bushes on offshore islands. Note Local breeder in Oman; common on passage and
in winter. [Alt: Western Reef Egret]Black Heron Egretta ardesiaca V
L: 50. W: 70. A small, all-black heron. Short, ragged crest, black bill and legs with orange-yellow
feet. Juvenile blackish-brown and lacks crest. Very active when feeding, often throwing wings over
head, creating a shading umbrella canopy over the water. Habitat Wetlands, marshy fringes, tidal
flats. Note Vagrant Oman, Yemen.