Chinese egret, Egretta eulophotes (protonym, Herodias eulophotes), also known as Swinhoe's egret, and as the (little) yellow-billed white heron, photographed at Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China.
Image: Marie Louise Ng, 23 May 2011 [velociraptorize].
Question: This beautiful but endangered Chinese mystery bird is a relative unknown to most birders, so it's likely that most of you will not be able to identify it. However, you've surprised me before, and it's possible that providing enough information and relying on collective group wisdom might yield the correct identification. So I am going to throw the discussion open to you, so you can use your sleuthing skills and a few hints that I'll provide here (and later, in comments, if you need them).
Hints:
- - this species is endangered
- - this species has no recognised subspecies
- - it is very specialised in its requirements: it is found almost exclusively on tide flats
- - foraging behaviours distinguish them from a close relative
Response: This is an adult Chinese egret, Egretta eulophotes, in breeding plumage. This migratory species has a small, and declining, population due to previous hunting for the plume trade and to ongoing (and accelerating) development of its habitat, mud flats and tide flats.
Chinese egrets are very active when feeding, following the receding tide and running with opened wings after mobile prey. The Chinese egret has also been observed to walk and occasionally run a short distance in mud before stabbing with its bill. Birds roosting at high tide on fish-trap stakes have been observed to jump feet-first into the water, wings held high, in pursuit of shrimps just below the water's surface. Prey appears to be mainly small fish and shrimps, but crabs are also taken. This species probably feeds on insects when on land.
This video captures one individual feeding in shallow water on tide flats in the Philippines:
You are invited to review all of the daily mystery birds by going to their dedicated graphic index page.
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