Eastern Cattle-Egret Ardea coromanda Scientific name definitions

The Eastern Cattle-Egret is a gregarious, white, upland ardeid, easily recognized by its foraging association with grazing animals and its exaggerated, head-pumping strut. Its predilection for grasslands, lawns, pastures, and grazing animals is quite unlike other herons and egrets which generally feed in or along water and not in close association with livestock. It differs from the Western Cattle-Egret in having more buffy-orange breeding plumage in the head and neck regions.

It is also called Tick Bird, referring to the erroneous belief that they pick attached ticks from grazing animals; instead, most of their prey are insects disturbed by the grazing animals. Derivation of the scientific name: Bubulcus (the former genus) from Latin “belonging to cattle” and coromandus referring to the Coromandel Coast of the southeastern coastal region of the Indian subcontinent.

Range expansion across Australasia began in the 1900s and it was well-established by the 2000s. This rapid expansion is well documented and studied, encouraging speculation about those aspects of its life history and ecology that have most promoted growth in range and numbers. Indeed, this unusual bird has provided a rare opportunity for comparative worldwide studies of its population dynamics and its interactions with native colonial waterbirds, as well as with people.

Of particular interest are the economic aspects of the species's food habits and diet, medical and veterinary concerns, breeding colonies considered to be nuisances, and status as a bioindicator of environmental conditions. Apparent keys to its spread and success are its dispersal tendencies, gregariousness, diet, foraging adaptability—especially as humans increasingly convert large areas of landscape to pasture for livestock production and to crop fields for rice agriculture—and its breeding adaptability and success.