Cattle Egret

Bubulcus (Egretta) ibis

A white heron with a stout yellow bill and, in the breeding season, with buff yellow-orange plumes on head, neck and back.  They are distributed over the entire world but originally from Africa.  They spend the day in wet pastures, often near cows.  They look for grasshoppers and beetles that are raised by the cows.  Occasionally, they sit on the back of a cow, looking for ticks and flies.  At nightfall, they fly to their roosting places, following fixed routes often via the rivers.  They nest in mangrove or in trees near rivers, sometimes together with other herons.