The Cattle Egret is a small, chunky white egret with a striking life history — it is an Old World bird that spread on its own across the Atlantic to South America in the late 1800s and then swept north through the Americas, one of the most rapid natural range expansions ever documented. Unlike other egrets, it is largely a bird of dry land, following grazing cattle and other livestock (or tractors and mowers) to snap up the insects they stir up. Breeding adults are adorned with buff-orange plumes on the crown, chest, and back; nonbreeding birds are plain white with a yellow bill.
In Michigan the Cattle Egret is a rare visitor, appearing mostly in spring and fall in pastures, fields, and lawns, often associating with cattle or feeding in short grass well away from water — a habit that distinguishes it from the marsh-loving egrets and herons. Its stocky build, short yellow bill, and terrestrial, cattle-following behavior make it easy to recognize when one does turn up among grazing livestock in the state.
Feeds mainly on insects — especially grasshoppers, crickets, and flies — stirred up by grazing livestock or machinery, along with frogs, spiders, and small vertebrates. Unlike other egrets it forages largely on dry land in pastures and fields rather than in water, following cattle to catch flushed prey.
The Cattle Egret feeds on insects and other small animals that grazing livestock (or farm machinery) flush from the grass. Following cattle gives it easy access to disturbed prey, a habit that inspired its name.
The Cattle Egret is native to the Old World but crossed the Atlantic on its own to South America in the late 1800s and then spread rapidly north through the Americas — one of the fastest natural range expansions on record.
Look for a small, stocky white egret with a short yellow bill, feeding on dry land in pastures or fields, often near cattle. Breeding birds show buff-orange plumes on the crown, chest, and back.
The buff-orange crown, breast, and back plumes and the red bill are breeding-season features. Nonbreeding adults and immatures are all white with a yellow bill and dark legs, and are stockier and shorter-billed than other white egrets.
A rookery when nesting. Away from the colony they feed in loose flocks that follow livestock, which is the behavior that gave the species its name.
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