Medium Egret

The medium or intermediate egret is an all-white heron between the great and little egrets in size, though nearer the little: about 56–72cm long with a wingspan of 105–115cm and a weight of about 400g. It usually has dark legs and a thickish yellow bill. Breeding birds may have a reddish or black bill, greenish-yellow skin at the gape, loose filmy plumes on the breast and back, and yellow or pink on the upper legs. It is told from the great egret by its gape line, which ends just behind the eye (Wikipedia, general species account).

It stalks its prey methodically in shallow fresh or coastal water, including flooded fields, and eats fish, frogs, crustaceans and insects. It often nests in colonies with other herons, on stick platforms in trees or shrubs, and both parents incubate the usually two or three pale green eggs for 24–27 days. The Asian birds are now treated as a separate species from the yellow-billed egret of Africa and the plumed egret of Australasia. In India it is resident across a very large range; SoIB 2023 finds its long-term trend stable and rates it a Low conservation priority (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).