Medium-sized wader (about 52 cm or 20.5 in) with a bill and legs somewhat shorter than other herons. The plumage is white, often spotted with dirt. In the mating season the male sports ocher and orange tones on the nape, head, neck and back. Orange bill, eyes and legs.
Cultivated areas and wetlands
Grasslands, meadows, shallow wetlands and crops with abundant livestock or the presence of farm machinery.
Species resident in the province that breeds in colonies. Nests in trees (aviaries), normally very noisy. It begins the laying in May (4 to 5 eggs) and feeds on very diverse prey that captures in the ground: invertebrates, small reptiles, amphibians and micromammals. The Cattle Egret takes advantage of the movement of livestock and the land of labor to find its prey. It also eats parasites from the skin of the cattle, which is why it is known in Spanish as "espulga bueyes" (“ox delousers”) or "rezneros" (“bot fliers”).
Very common and frequent species throughout the province. It can be watched practically in almost all the Great Path, except in stages of high mountain or closed forest formations.
One of the most curious behaviors of this species is its preference to sleep in specific points of the province and in a group. At dusk the egrets take flight and go towards their roosts, sometimes quite far from their range areas. During the journey the egrets from the places where the flock passes by join the party, until they all arrive together at the roost. At dawn they perform the opposite operation. The flock works like a bus line with stops in which passengers get on and off.
- Costa del Sol Occidental
- Genal and Guadiaro rivers junction
- Great Malaga Path (GR 249). Stage 02. Rincón de la Victoria - Vélez-Málaga
- Great Malaga Path (GR 249). Stage 03. Vélez-Málaga - Torrox
- Great Malaga Path (GR 249). Stage 18. Fuente de Piedra - Campillos
- Great Malaga Path (GR 249). Stage 29. Casares - Estepona
- Great Malaga Path (GR 249). Stage 30. Estepona - Marbella
- Great Malaga Path (GR 249). Stage 31. Marbella - Ojén
- Great Malaga Path (GR 249). Stage 35. Alhaurín de la Torre - Málaga
- Las Campiñuelas
- Mouth of the Guadalhorce Nature Reserve
- The Mouth of Rio Velez
- Valley of the Guadalhorce River
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