Birdland
Herding Cattle
During the breeding season, cattle egrets display dramatic orange-buff plumes on their backs, breasts and crowns. Often spotted standing on the backs of livestock, eating the ticks and flies off the animals, the cattle egret has reportedly undergone one of the most rapid and wide-reaching natural expansions of any bird species. According to the Audubon Society, cattle egret originated in the Old World, and crossed the Atlantic, probably flying from Africa to South America, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They are believed to have arrived in North America in 1941. Cattle egrets nest in colonies, often with other types of egrets, near bodies of water. This bird was photographed on the island on the lake at City Park, by Park Hill resident Mark Silverstein.