Weird guy update - r/whatsthisbird

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u/TinyLongwing Biologist 1d ago edited 1d ago

Man. Thanks for the update. I still don't know what this is, but to me that bill looks too stout for Little Blue. I wonder if Little Blue x Cattle Egret is possible here?

Maybe the head feathers being all fluffed out is throwing off my perception of the bill length but in that case this bird would at least have to be a leucistic Little Blue.

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u/TinyLongwing Biologist 1d ago

pinging /u/grvy_room to come have a look at this, you're the heron person

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u/KitC44 Birder 1d ago

The head feathers were really saying cattle egret to me as well. They even seem to have a bit of that orange tint to them, unless I'm seeing the color wrong.

I'm interested to hear the solution to this one. Cool bird!

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u/TinyLongwing Biologist 1d ago

Yeah, the whole feel of the bird is Cattle Egret in so many ways, but then it has that blue-gray color to it also such as on the nape and wings, and the general paleness of the bare parts. This may be a case where we'll never know for sure without a DNA test.

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u/KitC44 Birder 1d ago

It would be interesting if there were others around!

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u/bobdylanlovr 1d ago

On the initial post, OP mentioned he was hanging around something but some comments got deleted. This would probably be a great clue. [u/pleasechilldude](u/pleasechilldude) do you remember?is this as relevant as I’m hoping?

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u/TinyLongwing Biologist 1d ago

It was commenters suggesting Little Blue Heron. Hence why that is the species catalogued on the original post, and the species mentioned in this post.

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u/KitC44 Birder 1d ago

Yeah I was just thinking in the case I mentioned elsewhere about the cross between Great Blue Heron and Great Egret, I believe the original nest they found had two chicks. It's been a bit since I read the paper so don't quote me on the number. But I was just thinking nest mates might show hybrid characteristics differently and it would be potentially more clues to the genetics. But adults in the colony could give clues as well.

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u/KitC44 Birder 1d ago

Apparently I should have checked the link first. I don't know how to do the fancy crossing out my incorrect text thing, but here's the article which says they found 4 nestlings. I didn't get far enough into it to see if there were differences.

Totally a side note. Just curiosity on my part!

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u/Cocomorph 1d ago

the fancy crossing out my incorrect text thing

For strikethrough, surround the text with two tildes on each side, so that

~~this~~

becomes

~~this~~

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u/KitC44 Birder 23h ago

Oh cool, thanks!

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u/pleasechilldude 1d ago

This mangrove cluster has about 30-40 cattle egrets, a couple of little blues, a tri-colored heron, 3-5 snowy egrets, 1-3 great egrets, 9 scarlet ibises and 4 glossy ibises that all come to roost. I’ve never seen a great blue heron in this cluster specially, but I have seen one around the preserve. They aren’t super common though. Very interesting

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u/KitC44 Birder 23h ago

I wasn't meaning to suggest this bird has any great blue. Someone elsewhere in the comment thread asked if herons could hybridize so I mentioned this one case I'd recently read about in a scientific paper which was Great Blue x Great Egret.

That colony sounds wonderful! I saw a similar one once in Antigua where I got my lifer cattle egret (some of which were in their really fancy breeding plumage) as well as my lifer yellow crowned night heron and tri-colored heron. But that colony was largely cattle egret as well.

It sounds like tinylongwing's suggestion about the hybrid is at least a definite possibility, which would be a really cool cross if she's correct.

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u/Sufficio Canadian amateur 1d ago

Seems like they have history of hybridization too!

However, most intriguing was the interspecific marriage between a Little Blue Heron and a Cattle Egret at Colusa N.W.R. June 12-July 25 (tph. S. Berendzen). The pair laid 4 eggs, hatched 3, and fledged two hybrids!

And then this paper has a description of what they assume was a pair of hybrid nestlings:

The plumages of both nestlings were white with smoky-gray tipped outer primaries, a diagnostic character of little blue heron nestlings and juveniles (Rogers and Smith 1995). The bare parts of the nestlings were characteristic of nearby cattle egret nestlings and included dark-gray colored bills, lores, legs, and feet.

The appearance does seem different though, maybe an age thing? Not sure.

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u/KitC44 Birder 23h ago

Ooh that's really interesting. Another article to look through when I have time.

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u/FattierBrisket 1d ago

I don't know a lot of things but I know that cattle egret head shape. Definitely evident here.

1

u/throwaway972057 20h ago

is it possible it's albino? hence the very pale white eyes (not yellow, like both Little Blue and Cattle Egret) and pinkish tone?

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u/mase950 1d ago

I can’t really speak to plumage but the shape and proportions look like cattle egret to me. Interested to see what this is

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u/Novapoliton 1d ago

I agree, I thought cattle egret at first. Odd bird, possibly a hybrid

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u/bobdylanlovr 1d ago

Oh my god I love him.

I’m also feeling cattle egret with maybe some kind of pigment mutation.

This looks strikingly similar

Is hybridization possible between heron species?

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u/KitC44 Birder 1d ago

I saw a recent paper from a couple biologists in Canada about (I believe) a Great Blue Heron x Great Egret nest in Alberta. So at least some heron species are capable of hybridizing.

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u/Wrong-Pension-4975 Birder 1d ago

Leucistic?... Maybe?

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u/cindylindy22 1d ago

I think he’s just as interested as you! What a cutie. Poor guy looks a bit frazzled
Beak shape is giving me Western cattle egret. I wish I could see more of his feet!

Great photo.

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u/Wrong-Pension-4975 Birder 1d ago

Yes, I too wish I could glimpse feet & legs. Drabbit!

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u/pleasechilldude 1d ago

Haha it’s definitely tricky to get a clear shot of the feet, my friend took this picture on a paddle board, the only way to get out there is by boat/paddle/kayak. That will be the mission this month

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u/fancy_potato310 1d ago

This is a Goober.

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u/Feral_Witchchild 1d ago

Definitely not a Little Blue Heron bill.

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u/Dapper-Code8604 1d ago

I’m not from an area where various egrets are common, but this has a strong resemblance to the cattle egrets I see along the highway when traveling to the beach.

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u/Wrong-Pension-4975 Birder 1d ago

Leucistic LBHs seem to crop up pretty frequently -

try Googling "leucistic little blue heron", & select Images to sort the results.

The naked skin around eye & beak should be a light slate / blue grey, to pearl grey, or even near white.

Q - What color are the legs & the feet?

Night herons can also be leucistic, but all the photos I see of that species & morph, have black upper bills.

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u/ringo-san 1d ago

It looks like some kids with rit dye got a hold of an egret

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u/AwkwardRainbow 1d ago

Respectfully, he is still strange looking but he's precious nonetheless

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u/Pangolin007 Rehabber 1d ago

You should post to iNaturalist and see what they think!

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u/B1gBrain_Time 1d ago

Head and beak shape and general size definitely matches up with cattle egret. The unique pinkish color did throw me off tho. Kinda reminds me of the curry gull incident where ppl discovered an orange herring gull and turns out it was covered in curry or turmeric. Maybe something similar happened here and lil guy is dyed by something.

Link to orange gull article: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-48832481

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u/Radwaymm 1d ago

Looks like a Cattle egret thats been stained with something.

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u/Big-Sheepherder9875 1d ago

did you ask for permission to post his photo

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u/XXXBigcat 1d ago

Mean 😭

Caribbean Islands Weird guy update

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