Eastern Cattle Egret (Ardea coromanda)
Illustration redrawn by AI from a real photograph

Eastern Cattle Egret

Ardea coromanda (Boddaert, 1783)

46–56 cmLength

It is a stocky white heron that often follows cattle, catching insects disturbed by them.

Busiest months: December–February · Most records: India, China, Australia

How to identify

Field marks

  1. Short, thick neck; strong bill; hunched posture
  2. White feathers, yellow bill and grayish-yellow legs in the non-breeding season
  3. Orange-yellow ornamental plumes on the throat, head and lower back in the breeding season
  4. Yellowish-brown extends to the cheeks and throat in the breeding season

Voice

Gives a low “rick-rack” in breeding colonies; mostly quiet at other times.

Where and when it's recorded

Busiest months: December–February · Most records: India, China, Australia

Eastern Cattle Egret has been recorded at 2,165 of the 8,276 birding hotspots we track, in 41 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

  1. GKVK CampusIndia6,553 records
  2. Taipei – Tianliaoyang WetlandTaiwan (China)5,581 records
  3. Oxley Creek CommonAustralia5,051 records
More places
  1. Bharatpur – Keoladeo Ghana NPIndia3,039 records
  2. Kanha NP – Mukki ZoneIndia2,915 records
  3. Taipei – Da'an Forest ParkTaiwan (China)2,908 records
  4. Huajiang IBA – Huajiang Wild Duck Nature Park (Huajiang to Zhongxing Bridge)Taiwan (China)2,743 records
  5. Saul Kere / Sowl KereIndia2,660 records
  6. IIT BombayIndia2,599 records
  7. Changaram Wetlands – EzhupunnaIndia2,488 records

Countries and regions with the most records

IndiaChinaAustraliaThailandSri LankaNepalCambodiaPhilippines

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

The eastern cattle egret (Ardea coromanda) is a species of heron (family Ardeidae) found in the tropics, subtropics and warm temperate zones. Formerly, most taxonomic authorities lumped this species and the western cattle egret together (called the cattle egret), but the two cattle egrets are now treated as separate species. Despite the similarities in plumage to the egrets of the genus Egretta, it is more closely related to the herons of Ardea.

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia

Questions

How big is the Eastern Cattle Egret?

The Eastern Cattle Egret is about 46–56 cm long.

Where does the Eastern Cattle Egret live?

Its breeding range: Oriental: southern, East Asia and Australasia. It is most often recorded in India, China and Australia.

When is the best time to see the Eastern Cattle Egret?

At the hotspots we track, it is recorded most in January, February and December (Northern Hemisphere).

What family is the Eastern Cattle Egret in?

It belongs to the family Herons, Bitterns (Ardeidae), order Pelecaniformes.

At a glance

Length
46–56 cm

Range

Oriental: southern, East Asia and Australasia

Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2

Classification

Family
Herons, Bitterns Ardeidae
Genus
Ardea

Other birds in the genus Ardea

White-necked HeronWhite-necked HeronArdea pacificaGreat EgretGreat EgretArdea albaYellow-billed EgretYellow-billed EgretArdea brachyrhynchaMedium EgretMedium EgretArdea intermediaPlumed EgretPlumed EgretArdea plumiferaWestern Cattle EgretWestern Cattle EgretArdea ibisGrey HeronGrey HeronArdea cinereaGreat Blue HeronGreat Blue HeronArdea herodiasCocoi HeronCocoi HeronArdea cocoiPurple HeronPurple HeronArdea purpureaHumblot's HeronHumblot's HeronArdea humblotiWhite-bellied HeronWhite-bellied HeronArdea insignis
Eastern Cattle Egret

Download illustration

Free to use with credit: “Illustration: Bird Album (birdalbum.com)”. Drawn by AI from a reference photo by Hari K Patibanda. ↗

WebP · 1070 px

Heard it but can't see it? Mingji identifies birds by sound and photo, on your phone.

In other languages