Alvaro Jaramillo wrote:
>
> Hey folks
>
> The Washington bird looks like a Snowy Egret to me. There are two tricky
> things about this bird and they are related. This is a really young
> juvenile, and that is the key. In Palo Alto, California you can visit a
> wonderful egret colony that allows close approach. If you hit it when the
> chicks are mostly grown you could swear that the adult Snowy Egrets were
> feeding young Cattle Egrets. Most of the young have yellowish bills with
> dark tips, green legs and short stocky bills. Some birds get a black bill
> early on, others keep pale at the bill base until later on in their growth.
> Here are some representative photos (note that some labeled Great Egret on
> this page are actually young Snowy's - greats have a gape line that extends
> clearly behind the eye).
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/chuqui/165308173/in/set-72057594101568895/
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/chuqui/165307264/in/set-72057594101568895/
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/chuqui/174797425/in/set-72057594101568895/
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/chuqui/165308294/in/set-72057594101568895/
>
> The Washington bird is a young Snowy Egret, still showing a bill that is not
> fully grown in length (that is why it appears thick), and still shows
> extensive pale at the base (those are the two tricky bits). A young Little
> Blue Heron would show clearly grey primary tips, I don't think a fully
> white-winged Little Blue has been recorded ever.
>
> Cheers
>
> Al
>
> Alvaro Jaramillo
> chucao at coastside.net
> Half Moon Bay, CA
>
> Field Guides - Birding Tours Worldwide
> http://www.fieldguides.com/home.htm
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: NBHC ID-FRONTIERS Frontiers of Field Identification
> > [mailto:BIRDWG01 at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU] On Behalf Of Jim Barton
> > Sent: Thursday, September 07, 2006 1:37 PM
> > To: BIRDWG01 at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU
> > Subject: [BIRDWG01] SNEG vs. LBHE, bill structure etc.
> >
> > Hello. The bill of the bird in question is very noticeably thicker at
> > the base than at the tip, and is distinctly two-toned. Both are features
> > I
> > associate with LBHE rather than SNEG. The thickness of the bill at the
> > base
> > even shows up the in the flight shots.
> >
> > The bill isn't quite what I'd like to see on LBHE, however. In my
> > experience, the lower mandible of LBHE curves slightly downward, as
> > suggested by Sibley's adult and NGS's immature. I have never seen the
> > lower
> > mandible of SNEG curve slightly downward. (Mullarney et al. say the bill
> > of
> > Little Egret does do so.)
> >
> > For SNEG, the bill of the bird in question looks massive.
> >
> > A way to check the thickness of the base of the bill is to draw an
> > imaginary line backwards across the head from the base of the upper
> > mandible. (You can try this with Yellow-crowned Night Heron and
> > Black-crowned Night Heron as well.) On SNEG, the imaginary line will pass
> > under the eye or through the lower part of the eye. On LBHE the line will
> > pass over the eye.
> >
> > So, so far I have a bird with a bill much closer to LBHE than SNEG.
> > In
> > general, the former recalls the shape of a dagger, the latter of a
> > poignard-- almost of equal thickness throughout its length.
> >
> > But now we have yellow lores. Indeed, we have very extensive yellow
> > on
> > the face. That suggests Great Egret.
> >
> > In flight, legs appear dark in front and yellowish-greenish behind.
> > To
> > me, that suggest juvenile SNEG (and, I believe, eliminates juvenile Little
> > Egret).
> >
> > So, I would say the bird is LBHExSNEG. If the bird is a juvenile, its
> > bare-part coloration indeed may not be fully developed. But development
> > of
> > adult bare-part coloration won't change the bill structure.
> >
> > In light of our recent discussion of field notes vs. photographs,
> > could
> > we get some field notes?
> >
> > Yours,
> >
> > Jim Barton
> > Cambridge, MA
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Join or Leave BIRDWG01: http://listserv.arizona.edu/cgi-
> > bin/wa?SUBED1=birdwg01
> >
> > Archives: http://listserv.arizona.edu/archives/birdwg01.html
> >
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>
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--
Mike Patterson
Astoria, OR
celata at pacifier.com

Covering up the cock-up
http://www.surfbirds.com/blogs/mbalame/archives/004114.html