[nysbirds-l] Staten Island Egret
Tripper Paul and I spent some time with the bird in question mid day today. There's been a lot of off-line chatter as well as inquisitive texts from further afield regarding the identification of this bird and some wondering aloud of the lack of information being posted. Isaac Grant posted a few photos on the New York Birders Facebook page which show the most detail to date. Scroll down till you see his post. A big thank you to the Staten Island birders who discovered and have been keeping tabs on this bird. https://www.facebook.com/groups/NYBirders/ To distill it down, this is a very interesting bird that shows characteristics of both Little Egret and Snowy Egret. It's a non-textbook bird in an age class/species group that is difficult to distinguish on a good day. I made an audio recording of our field impression while the bird was in view and have transcribed it, as well as additional thoughts noted after the recording was made, but before consulting any reference material below. SNEG's =Snowy Egrets. LIEG= Little Egret July 9th, 2017 12:45pm Goethal’s Bridge Pond “So Tripper and I are at Goethal’s Bridge Pond on the flats following up on the LIEG report. The bird has been in view for most of the time we’ve been here, but probably at 100-150 yards. Mixed sun and clouds. Field Marks: The bird is obviously more substantial in body heft probably by 20% of the nearby SNEG’s. When they are standing in close proximity it is obvious the bird has longer legs, just a more robust body, a longer neck. A couple of times an adult or a juvenile Snowy Egret has tussled with it and when it rears up it always has a size advantage. Head shape is kind of difficult to ascertain. I don’t see much difference in slope of the forehead between this bird and the SNEG’s, but certainly gray lores. I tried to discern between gray and blue and they definitely seem gray. The legs are thicker than those of the nearby SNEG’s. They are a dull yellow-green and the feet are a dull yellow, a little bit brighter than the legs, but again that is tough to ascertain if that is just because they are wet from walking through shallow water or if in fact they are brighter, but certainly no black in legs that I’m seeing, The bill is long and straight. It feels longer, but I’m not sure if that is because of the lores being darker and it just kind of feeling like an extention of the bill? It does not seem really particularly hefty at the base, but it does kind of have an overall feel of being slightly longer than the SNEG’s that are near it. No plumes obviously and nothing in that regard to give any helpful hints. A few times SNEG’s have been feeding around it-they are doing a very frenetic feeding style and a lot of foot wiggling under the water and mud. This bird is just doing a kind of slow stalk for what it’s worth.” Additional notes added after the above recording was made when the bird repositioned in the open. The leg and foot color noted above was confirmed as the bird walked out in the open and it’s legs and feet were dry and showed the same contrast in color noted above. In two brief flights as well as the third and final flight when it disappeared over the train tracks there were no dark markings on the body, wings or tail. The bird felt very broad-winged compared to the nearby SNEG’s (meaning from leading edge to trailing edge of wings it seemed thicker than the SNEG’s in flight. The bill, especially the lower mandible showed some pale color. In different lighting conditions this changed in appearance, from appearing to have a dark top to the bill, dark tip with lighter color on the lower mandible at the base to in bright sun appearing bicolored from back to front. During one tussle with a SNEG both birds raised their head feathers. The SNEG’s head appeared very rounded and delicate while the mystery egret’s head appeared very squared off in the back and to my eye really gave it a fierce feel, more in line with LIEG. The mystery egret always appeared to have a thicker, more muscular looking neck than SNEG’s. It’s worth mentioning that no SNEG’s showed any aggressive behavior towards each other, but 3 different SNEG’s went after the mystery egret at various points during the hour or so we were there. The feathering on the chin of the mystery egret extends further out onto the lower mandible than the SNEG’s it was near. If the mystery egret was in view it was always easy to pick out as always looked bigger and longer billed. As others have noted, it really stood out. Good Birding, Sean Sime Brooklyn, NY -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your
[nysbirds-l] Staten Island Egret
Tripper Paul and I spent some time with the bird in question mid day today. There's been a lot of off-line chatter as well as inquisitive texts from further afield regarding the identification of this bird and some wondering aloud of the lack of information being posted. Isaac Grant posted a few photos on the New York Birders Facebook page which show the most detail to date. Scroll down till you see his post. A big thank you to the Staten Island birders who discovered and have been keeping tabs on this bird. https://www.facebook.com/groups/NYBirders/ To distill it down, this is a very interesting bird that shows characteristics of both Little Egret and Snowy Egret. It's a non-textbook bird in an age class/species group that is difficult to distinguish on a good day. I made an audio recording of our field impression while the bird was in view and have transcribed it, as well as additional thoughts noted after the recording was made, but before consulting any reference material below. SNEG's =Snowy Egrets. LIEG= Little Egret July 9th, 2017 12:45pm Goethal’s Bridge Pond “So Tripper and I are at Goethal’s Bridge Pond on the flats following up on the LIEG report. The bird has been in view for most of the time we’ve been here, but probably at 100-150 yards. Mixed sun and clouds. Field Marks: The bird is obviously more substantial in body heft probably by 20% of the nearby SNEG’s. When they are standing in close proximity it is obvious the bird has longer legs, just a more robust body, a longer neck. A couple of times an adult or a juvenile Snowy Egret has tussled with it and when it rears up it always has a size advantage. Head shape is kind of difficult to ascertain. I don’t see much difference in slope of the forehead between this bird and the SNEG’s, but certainly gray lores. I tried to discern between gray and blue and they definitely seem gray. The legs are thicker than those of the nearby SNEG’s. They are a dull yellow-green and the feet are a dull yellow, a little bit brighter than the legs, but again that is tough to ascertain if that is just because they are wet from walking through shallow water or if in fact they are brighter, but certainly no black in legs that I’m seeing, The bill is long and straight. It feels longer, but I’m not sure if that is because of the lores being darker and it just kind of feeling like an extention of the bill? It does not seem really particularly hefty at the base, but it does kind of have an overall feel of being slightly longer than the SNEG’s that are near it. No plumes obviously and nothing in that regard to give any helpful hints. A few times SNEG’s have been feeding around it-they are doing a very frenetic feeding style and a lot of foot wiggling under the water and mud. This bird is just doing a kind of slow stalk for what it’s worth.” Additional notes added after the above recording was made when the bird repositioned in the open. The leg and foot color noted above was confirmed as the bird walked out in the open and it’s legs and feet were dry and showed the same contrast in color noted above. In two brief flights as well as the third and final flight when it disappeared over the train tracks there were no dark markings on the body, wings or tail. The bird felt very broad-winged compared to the nearby SNEG’s (meaning from leading edge to trailing edge of wings it seemed thicker than the SNEG’s in flight. The bill, especially the lower mandible showed some pale color. In different lighting conditions this changed in appearance, from appearing to have a dark top to the bill, dark tip with lighter color on the lower mandible at the base to in bright sun appearing bicolored from back to front. During one tussle with a SNEG both birds raised their head feathers. The SNEG’s head appeared very rounded and delicate while the mystery egret’s head appeared very squared off in the back and to my eye really gave it a fierce feel, more in line with LIEG. The mystery egret always appeared to have a thicker, more muscular looking neck than SNEG’s. It’s worth mentioning that no SNEG’s showed any aggressive behavior towards each other, but 3 different SNEG’s went after the mystery egret at various points during the hour or so we were there. The feathering on the chin of the mystery egret extends further out onto the lower mandible than the SNEG’s it was near. If the mystery egret was in view it was always easy to pick out as always looked bigger and longer billed. As others have noted, it really stood out. Good Birding, Sean Sime Brooklyn, NY -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your
