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Egret or Reef Heron?

Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2018 9:39 pm
by Peter Hodge
Driving south from Kaitaia this afternoon I came across this bird north of Moerewa. It was alone, feeding in a field near stockyards, and about the size of a Pukeko - I've included an uncropped shot showing a nearby Pukeko for size comparison.

Any thoughts? What I find interesting is the bird's yellow legs. Apologies for the image quality - the bird was some distance away.

_MG_4217.jpg
_MG_4217.jpg (103.59 KiB) Viewed 2676 times
_MG_4217.jpg
_MG_4217.jpg (103.59 KiB) Viewed 2676 times

Re: Egret or Reef Heron?

Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2018 10:41 pm
by Oscar Thomas
This could be the return of the white White-faced heron perhaps, it's not far from where it has been seen in the past: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=5249&start=30

Re: Egret or Reef Heron?

Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2018 3:48 pm
by bruce.shanks
It could be a leucistic White-faced Heron. I think I have heard of one in that region, previously.

Bruce Shanks

Re: Egret or Reef Heron?

Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2018 6:27 pm
by Peter Hodge
Looks that way, thanks Bruce and Oscar.

Re: Egret or Reef Heron?

Posted: Sun Nov 10, 2019 9:55 pm
by sav
Hi all,

This same bird was in a paddock by SH1 a couple of km North of Moerewa yesterday morning. It has a 2 (?) grey feathers on its mantle, but is otherwise pure white.

cheers