BIRDWALKERMONDAY

This Blog contains Wildlife and Bird Photos from Walks, Safaris, Birding Trips and Vacations. Most of the pictures have been taken with my Nikon P900 and P950X cameras. On the right of the page are labels for each species of Bird/Animal etc. Click on a label and it will show all of the photos taken for that species. I am adding as much information for each species as I can from sources Wikipedia. To see any pictures at full size just click on the picture.

Showing posts with label WESTERN REEF HERON (Egretta gularis). Show all posts

Sunday 21 January 2024

2-1-2024 CALYPSO BAR, GAMBIA - WESTERN REEF HERON (Egretta gularis)

Gangly heron with significant variation in plumage. Distinct dark morph is slate-gray with a white throat, while the palest morph is white with a yellow bill and lores. Pale gray intermediate morphs can also be found. Little Egret can look similar, but it has a darker bill than the white morph of the Western Reef-Heron. Primarily a coastal inhabitant, foraging on shorelines and in estuaries, but can also be found at some inland water bodies.

The western reef heron (Egretta gularis ), also called the western reef egret, is a medium-sized heron found in southern Europe, Africa and parts of Asia. It has a mainly coastal distribution and occurs in several plumage forms: a slaty-grey plumage in which it can only be confused with the rather uncommon dark morph of the Little egret (Egretta garzetta ); a white form which can look very similar to the little egret although the bill tends to be paler and larger and the black form with white throat E. g. gularis of West Africa. There are also differences in size, structure and foraging behaviour. There have been suggestions that the species hybridizes with the Little Egret, and based on this, some authors treat schistacea and gularis as subspecies of Egretta garzetta. Works that consider the Western Reef Heron as a valid species include the nominate gularis and schistacea as subspecies.

Tuesday 26 December 2023

22-12-2023 CALYPSO BAR, GAMBIA - WESTERN REEF HERON (Egretta gularis)

The western reef heron (Egretta gularis) is a egret belonging to the family Ardeidae. The western reef heron is distributed in Africa, Red Sea region, Persian Gulf, Indian Subcontinent and Sri Lanka.

The western reef heron is a medium sized bird, measuring 55 to 65 cm in length and weighing 300 to 700 grams. The wingspan is 85 to 105 cm. These heron species have two color forms. There is an all-white morph and a dark grey morph. There may be partial coloration as well as intermediate shades of grey. The bill is large and yellow. The breeding heron birds may have reddish tinge on the legs and facial skin. Two long feathers on the sides of the nape are seen in breeding birds.

These heron species inhabit estuaries, mudflats, marshes, tidal flats, creeks, lagoons, rocky shores, sandy shores, reefs, mangroves, rocky cliffs and islets.

The western reef heron species feed on fish, crustaceans and molluscs. They also feed on invertebrates like insects, grubs and earthworms. They stalk the prey by standing still in shallow water. Sometimes they are seen stirring the water with foot to flush out the prey.

These heron species construct platform nests on reedbeds, mangrove trees and bushes. They breeding season in India is during monsoon. Both the partners take part in nest building. The usual clutch is three to four eggs. Both the parents incubate the eggs and raise the hatchlings.

Monday 25 December 2023

22-12-2023 PIRANG PONDS, GAMBIA - WESTERN REEF HERON (Egretta gularis)

The western reef heron's breeding habitat is coastal wetlands. In the Red Sea region the breeding season is from June to August. The nominate subspecies breeds in West Africa from late April to September. In India the breeding season is during the monsoon rains from April to August and end of May in the former breeding colony at Chilaw in Sri Lanka. Most of the breeding colonies in Gujarat in western India were on mangroves. They nest in colonies usually of their own species but sometimes with other egrets and smaller herons, usually on platforms of sticks placed in trees or shrubs. The male fetches sticks of the nest while the female places them to form the platform. The nest height varies from about 5 to 15 meters, but very low nesting (as low as 0.6 meters) has been observed in mangrove trees in salt pans. The usual clutch is three to four eggs which are light blue as in the little egret. Incubation begins when the first egg is laid resulting in chicks with size disparities. Both parents take turns to incubate and the eggs hatch after about 23 to 24 days. The chicks are white with grey dapples. Young birds sometimes die after falling off from the nest platform. Adults will shade the chicks during the hotter parts of the day. Predators of eggs include rats and young chicks may be taken by cats and crows. Adults usually guard the nest when eggs or young chicks are present. Adults feed the young by regurgitating semi-digested food at the nest. This diet includes mainly small fishes of the families Clupeidae, Gobiidae and Engraulidae. The young birds leave the nest after about a month.

It occurs mainly on the coasts in tropical west Africa, the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf (Iran) extending east to India. It also occurs in the Lakshadweep Islands and Sri Lanka where breeding was once recorded at Chilaw. The nominate subspecies breeds in west Africa from Mauritania to Gabon. Birds may also be found off the mainland such as in the Canary Islands. Small numbers breed in Spain. Subspecies schistacea is found from the Red Sea coast east round the Indian coast. Breeding colonies are known from the east coast of India around Pulicat Lake. They occasionally occur further inland.

Saturday 23 December 2023

20-12-2023 ALLAHEIN RIVER, SENEGAL - WESTERN REEF HERON

This bird has two plumage colour forms. There is an all-white morph and a dark grey morph; morphs can also occur with intermediate shades of grey which may be related to age or particoloured in grey and white. The white morph is similar in general appearance to the little egret, but has a larger yellower bill, extended yellow on thicker legs, and when foraging tends to be very active, sometimes also moving its wing or using it to shade the water surface. The grey morph has a whitish throat and is unlikely to be confused with any other species within the range of this egret with beak and legs similar to that of the white morph. During the breeding season the legs and facial skin are reddish. Breeding birds have two long feathers on the sides of the nape. The nominate subspecies gularis has a range from West Africa to Gabon, with some birds breeding in southern Europe. Subspecies schistacea (Hemprich & Ehrenberg, 1828) breeds from the Persian Gulf along the coast of India to the east of the India Peninsula. The bill of gularis is more pointed while schistacea has the larger bill especially towards the base. The form on the eastern coast of South Africa is usually separated as the dimorphic egret Egretta dimorpha. The dark and white morph is thought to be controlled by a single allele with the dark character being incompletely dominant over the gene for white.

Thursday 21 December 2023

20-12-2023 KARTONG, GAMBIA - WESTERN REEF HERON (Egretta gularis)

The western reef heron (Egretta gularis), also called the western reef egret, is a medium-sized heron found in southern Europe, Africa and parts of Asia. It has a mainly coastal distribution and occurs in several plumage forms: a slaty-grey plumage in which it can only be confused with the rather uncommon dark morph of the Little egret (Egretta garzetta); a white form which can look very similar to the little egret although the bill tends to be paler and larger and the black form with white throat E. g. gularis of West Africa. There are also differences in size, structure and foraging behaviour. There have been suggestions that the species hybridizes with the Little Egret, and based on this, some authors treat schistacea and gularis as subspecies of Egretta garzetta. Works that consider the Western Reef Heron as a valid species include the nominate gularis and schistacea as subspecies.

These birds stalk their prey in shallow water, often running or stirring the water with their feet or flicking their wings to disturb prey; they may also stand still and wait to ambush prey. They eat fish, crustaceans, and molluscs. In coastal areas, they regularly feed on mudskippers. Laboratory studies show them to be capable of making corrections for refractions but the probability of missing increases when they are forced to strike at prey at very acute angles to the water surface. Like other herons and egrets they have few vocalizations, making a low kwok or grating sounds when disturbed or near the nest.