Cow Egrets / Cow Birds

[Rapier]

Have no idea where they stay, but every time I start mowing with the tractor, we have about 20 acres to mow, I see a shadow go over and zip they land, one after the other until there are 20-40 of them gathering munchies in the grass. They cover the sides and diagonal out front, running with the tractor gathering bugs from the grass. Have no idea how they keep up in the heat, but they seem to do just that. I see them stop, get a drink in the pond and grab a small frog, or you will see them riding on a cow's back, picking bugs or jumping off to grab a grasshopper. When I quit mowing they all leave.

Pretty amazing little birds.

[Winger Ed.]

We have a lot of white cow egrets around here that ride around on the neighbor's cows.

I haven't seen any of the black cow birds since we left the city.
They were about the only things the sparrows couldn't run off.
They could swoop in, land on another bird's nest, lay an egg for the other bird to hatch & raise, and be gone in 4-5 seconds.

[jsizemore]

Red tail hawk sits a power pole when I start bush hogging the pasture. Rabbit or field mouse gets caught. She, the red tail, won't take off with or leave the prey, just stares me down. I head another direction and let her feed or carry her load to her young.

[buckwheatpaul]

Have no idea where they stay, but every time I start mowing with the tractor, we have about 20 acres to mow, I see a shadow go over and zip they land, one after the other until there are 20-40 of them gathering munchies in the grass. They cover the sides and diagonal out front, running with the tractor gathering bugs from the grass. Have no idea how they keep up in the heat, but they seem to do just that. I see them stop, get a drink in the pond and grab a small frog, or you will see them riding on a cow's back, picking bugs or jumping off to grab a grasshopper. When I quit mowing they all leave.

Pretty amazing little birds.

We really enjoy them as well. I love to see them standing on our laying down cows munching on flies and other bugs. They are such a great bird!

[45_Colt]

I've seen this before. Mowing the lawn and have birds following me around. At first I was, whut?, but then figured it out. Bugs, smart birdies.

45_Colt

[pworley1]

I don't know where the birds stay, but crank the tractor and there they are.

[gwpercle]

In Louisiana they are known as Cattle Egrets ...(Bubulcus Ibis) they are one of several Egret - Heron type birds found here ... 4 different Herons and 5 different Egrets are commonly seen , and sometimes hard to tell apart .

The way I spot the Cattle Egret is it is of smaller size , all white in color (except for breeding plumage), short necks and the sure fire identifier ... a yellow bill and yellow legs .
There must be about 10 different (some say 12) Egrets and Herons that live in Louisiana and are my most favorite family of birds to watch ... they can be found in the open cattle fields to the deep swamps .
Where Tabasco Hot Sauce is made , on Avery Island , there has been established "Bird City" . By the late 19th century plume hunters had nearly wiped out the Snowy Egret for it's plumage ...Edward Mcllhenny became alarmed and built nesting platforms for the Egrets ... The platforms have been added to and can be seen to this day . When the Snowy Egrets are nesting there must be hundreds of thousands of them there today ...maybe millions ... It's a sight to behold .

But remember ; small size , white color , short neck , yellow bill , yellow legs = Cattle Egret

Gary

[rockrat]

I have seen them in a roost, just West of Watonga, OK about 6 miles. Hundreds of them in the trees. Don't know if they are still there, but they were there for years when I would pass thru the area

[Finster101]

Yep, I have them. Just follow along behind or beside the mower looking for and easy meal. I have a hawk too. Not sure what kind it is, but it is pretty big. Sits on a fence post or tree limb and watches. I thought it was dive bombing me out of a tree one day when it came within 2 feet above my head and snagged a black snake just behind the mower that I did not see. Really pretty cool.

[popper]

UnNfortunately those stupid egrets are a protected bird in Tx. I've seen flock of a couple hundred in ElCampo when dove hunting. Fly over in huge flocks.

[45workhorse]

Working at a sod farm (yeah, I helped grow grass, the legal kind) years ago I had one land in front of me and squared off to me it puffed up like it was going to take me on! I was using a 4895 John Deere tractor, dual wheels, four wheel drive and a tri fold disk harrow.
I had a good laugh!

[namsag]

I used to enjoy watching them too when I lived outside of Baton Rouge. As soon as I started mowing my 5-acre place a couple dozen of them would materialize and chow down on grasshoppers and other bugs. They certainly knew the sound of that dinner bell.

[Texas by God]

They are all fine and good for an invasive bird; until they start a rookery on your place.


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[Txcowboy52]

No kidding! I had a good friend who had some move in and start roosting in his woods . Nasty stinking birds and they killed several big oak trees. He had nothing good to say about them.

[John Guedry]

Those birds are native to India and arrived in the U.S. on the backs of Bramha cattle when they were first imported from India.

[gwpercle]

Those birds are native to India and arrived in the U.S. on the backs of Bramha cattle when they were first imported from India.

I bet you read that on the internet .

Sorry but Cattle Egrets are native to Africa and have slowly migrated to Northeastern South America in 1877 , they continued expanding their territory north until arriving in the United States in 1941 and nesting here in 1953 . In the next 50 they became one of the most abundant of the North American Herons , showing up as far North as Alaska !

You can tell Cattle Egrets from Snowy Egrets by the color of their legs and bills .

Yellow legs and yellow bill = Cattle Egret

Black legs and black on end of bill = Snowy Egret

Gary

[John Guedry]

No my uncle told me. He was a cattlman long be fore mr Gore invented the internet.

[gwpercle]

No my uncle told me. He was a cattlman long be fore mr Gore invented the internet.

Well if your Uncle told you then it must be true ...
Because our Louisiana Uncles never tell untruths ... My Uncles never did and I'm sure your Uncle is right ... on the backs of Brahma Cattle :drinks: I'll drink to that .
One of my Uncles was a cattleman to , his cattle brand was the Rocking Arrow .
Gary

[Texas by God]

Around here “Eriks” is slang for cattle egrets;
“There’s a bunch of Eriks in the pasture”
I haven’t seen any in a while. I wish that they’d visit for this grasshopper plague!


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[flyer1]

They were about the only thing my Cajun in-laws would not eat.

[ebb]

Around here the locals call a Snowy Ibis a curlou. I have a friend that one of his old girl friends said she heard he got married and when he told her he had and to who, the girl says why did you merry that old mud queen? he says I was going to work and she meet me at the door with my Browning and a crown royal bag of bird shot, and says if you see any curlou's shoot a couple and we can have curlou and rice for dinner. The old Girl friend says OHHHH what's that? Friend says that's why I married her.

[gwpercle]

The Curlew is considered very good to eat ... market hunters would kill them by the thousands before they received Federal Protection .
The birds are in decline ... best not to eat too many .
Gary