intermediate egret

Smaller than Great, wirth shorter bill and neck. Black gape-line does not extend beyond eye. Bill is black and lores yellow-green during courtship, and has pronounced plumes on breast and mantle. Has blacktipped yellow bill and yellow lores outside breeding season.

Usually in small flocks which seprate when foraging. Hunts chiefly by slow stalking. Roosts communally. Marshes, flooded grassland, well-vegetaed pools; also shores of lakes and reservoirs, mangroves swamps and tidal creeks.

It eats fish, frogs, crustaceans and insects.

Intermediate Egret is a quiet bird. It utters a kind of buzzy call during displays, and a deep kroa-kr when it takes flight.

This species as its scientific name implies is intermediate in size between the great egret and smaller white egrets like the little egret and cattle egret though nearer to little than great. It is all-white plumage generally dark legs and a thickish yellow bill. Breeding birds may have a reddish or black bill greenish yellow gape skin loose filamentous plumes on their breast and back and dull yellow or pink on their upper legs (regional variations). The sexes are similar. The non-breeding colours are similar but the intermediate is smaller with neck length a little less than body length a slightly domed head and a shorter thicker bill. The great egret has a noticeable kink near the middle of its neck and the top of its longer bill nearly aligns with the flat top of its head. Close up the bare skin of the great egret's gape line extends in a dagger shape behind the eye while the Intermediate's is less pointed and ends below the eye. The intermediate tends to stalk upright with neck extended forward. The great is more patient often adopting a sideways-leaning 'one-eyed' stance. Little egrets have yellow-soled feet and black bills. They often run after fish in shallow water. Breeding birds have long nuptial plumes on the back of their heads. The intermediate egret stalks its prey methodically in shallow coastal or fresh water including flooded fields. It eats fish frogs crustaceans and insects. It often nests in colonies with other herons usually on platforms of sticks in trees or shrubs. Two to five eggs are laid the clutch size varying with region.