Egret or Reef Heron?

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Peter Hodge
Posts: 118
Joined: Sun May 26, 2013 10:00 am

Egret or Reef Heron?

Postby Peter Hodge » Tue Jun 05, 2018 9:39 pm

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.

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Oscar Thomas
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Re: Egret or Reef Heron?

Postby Oscar Thomas » Tue Jun 05, 2018 10:41 pm

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
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bruce.shanks
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Re: Egret or Reef Heron?

Postby bruce.shanks » Wed Jun 06, 2018 3:48 pm

It could be a leucistic White-faced Heron. I think I have heard of one in that region, previously.

Bruce Shanks
Peter Hodge
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Re: Egret or Reef Heron?

Postby Peter Hodge » Thu Jun 07, 2018 6:27 pm

Looks that way, thanks Bruce and Oscar.
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sav
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Location: Havelock North
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Re: Egret or Reef Heron?

Postby sav » Sun Nov 10, 2019 9:55 pm

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
Sav Saville
Wrybill Birding Tours, NZ
Great Birds, Real Birders

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