Reddish Egret

Adult Dark Morph in breeding plumage
Photo © by kverschoor
Galveston, Texas, USA, 14 January 2006

Egretta rufescens

Dichromanassa rufescens

Identification

Adult white morph dancing behaviour.
Photo © by bobsofpa
Fort DeSoto, Florida, USA 21 April 2008

Length: 26-31¾" (66–81 cm). Wingspan: 46" (117cm), Weight: 1lb (450gm)
A large polymorphic wading bird with long, flexible neck and long legs characteristic of the family. Most birds are the dark morph, and are easy to identify with their reddish heads and fronts, and reddish-gray rear half. Immatures are greyish-brown, pale below with reddish tinge to neck faint or absent; bill mostly black.

Variations

The Pacific coast subspecies has paler head and neck than eastern birds. In the Gulf of Mexico there is a small population (no more than 7%) of the white morph, more common further south in the Caribbean. It can be difficult to distinguish from other egrets: note the completely dark legs, dark lores , and long dark heavy bill that however is conspicuously two-toned in breeding season, pink with dark tip.

Distribution

Juvenile dark morph in flight
Photo © by onlybill
Quintana, Texas, USA 15 June 2008

North America, Central America, and northern South America as well as in the Caribbean.
In North America breeds on the Gulf Coast of the USA, Mexico and on the Pacific Coast of Mexico; outside breeding season spreads to California (where it may also breed) as well as north along the Atlantic coast. In Central America is found in summer along the coast of Yucatan in Mexico and Honduras and on the Pacific coast down to Costa Rica. More widespread outside of breeding season.
In northern South America is found on the caribbean coast of Colombia and Venezuela.
In the Caribbean, it is expected to be breeding in Bahamas and Cuba, with recent summer records also from Hispaniola and Puerto Rico. Extirpated as breeding bird in Jamaica, but occurs there outside of breeding season.

Vagrant in Panama.

Taxonomy

Subspecies

Two subspecies are recognized:^[1]

• E.r. rufescens - Gulf Coast of US, West Indies, winters to northwest South America
• E.r. dickeyi - southern half of Baja California, wintering into Guatemala and El Salvador: paler head and neck; no white morph.

Habitat

Mainly coastal, found on tidal mudflats and estuaries, rarely inland.

Behaviour

Subspecies dickeyi
Photo © by Joseph Morlan
Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, Huntington Beach, Orange County, California, USA., USA, 30 July 2016

Breeding

They nest on coastal islands almost year round in Florida, with peaks in November to January and February to May; March to June in Texas; and summer in Baja California. The nest is quite flat and large for the size of the bird. It is composed of dry sticks, interspersed with grass and leaves. They form colonies alongside other herons, spoonbills or cormorants. On arid islands they nest on low shrubs, cactus or on ground but in mangroves they use trees or high bushes. Clutch is typically 3-4 eggs; incubation period is 25-26 days. Chicks of white morph have white down, while those of dark morph have smoky grey down with greyish cinnamon head and neck. The young fledge in about 45 days.

Diet

Forages in shallow coastal areas and estuaries for small fish, usually no more than 10 cm/4 inch long. Usually solitary, they move quickly compared to other wading birds. They have a variety of feeding techniques either holding or flicking their wings open when feeding, presumably to either cast shadow and attracting fish or to scare the fish into movement which makes them easier to see.

Vocalisations

Usually silent. Most common call is a throaty awwwwh or AWWH-uhh.

Gallery

• 

  Immature 'canopy feeding'
  Photo © by TN Tin Man
  Black Point, Titusville, Florida

• 

  Adult E. r. rufescens
  Photo © by bobsofpa
  Fort de Soto Park, Florida, USA, February 2015

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2018. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2018. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Lowther, P. E. and R. T. Paul (2002). Reddish Egret (Egretta rufescens), version 2.0. In The Birds of North America (A. F. Poole and F. B. Gill, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bna.633
3. Ebird for updated range information
4. Martínez-Vilalta, A., Motis, A., Kirwan, G.M. & Marks, J.S. (2018). Reddish Egret (Egretta rufescens). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from https://www.hbw.com/node/52685 on 26 October 2018).

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Reddish Egret. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 23 June 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Reddish_Egret

External Links

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