Belize Biodiversity Information System NAME - Cattle Egret FAMILY - Ardeidae SCIENTIFIC NAME - Bubulcus ibis SYNONYMS - Egretta ibis, Ardea ibis and Ardeola ibis REFERENCES - 1 National abundance, Conservation or Economic Status Reference Resident, species present all year. 43 Winter visitor - migrant. 43 Resident, species present all year. 3 Apparently secure in Belize 42 Common: high density, likely to be seen in many places 42 Resident, species present all year. 3 U.S. Migratory Bird Treaty 35 District Reference Belize 4 Cayo 5 Corozal 12 Orange Walk 5 Stann Creek 13 Administrative Unit Occurrence Temporal Reference Coastal zone, not including cayes. Permanent 26 Freshwater Creek Forest Reserve Dry season 12 Chiquibul Forest Reserve Sighting Wet season 16 Rio Bravo Conservation Area 22 Rio Bravo Conservation Area 37 Gallon Jug Sighting Dry season 19 Gallon Jug 20 Gallon Jug 5 Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary Dry season 18 Guanacaste National Park Sighting Dry season 21 Tapir Mtn. Nature Reserve 27 Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary 40 Monkey Bay Wildlife Sanctuary Wet season 14 Half Moon Caye Natural Monument 30 Half Moon Caye Natural Monument 31 Half Moon Caye Natural Monument 32 Burdon Canal Nature Reserve Sighting Wet season 8 Community Baboon Sanctuary 23 Community Baboon Sanctuary 29 Lamanai Archaeological Reserve 15 Altun Ha Archaeological Reserve Dry season 39 Caracol Archaeological Reserve Dry season 10 Mussel Creek Drainage (Proposed) Dry season 11 Mussel Creek Drainage (Proposed) 4 Private land, see comments Sighting 33 Private land, see comments Sighting Dry season 9 Private land, see comments Sighting Dry season 19 Private land, see comments Sighting Wet season 13 Private land, see comments Sighting Wet season 17 Private land, see comments Sighting Wet season 24 Private land, see comments Accidental 25 Private land, see comments Dry season 7 Private land, see comments Collected as voucher 40 Private land, see comments 33 Cayes, other; see comments 26 Turneffe Reef 28 Monkey River Special Development Area Sighting Wet season 34 Caye Caulker 6 Hydrologic Association Reference New River Lagoon 37 Belize River 29 Roaring Creek 27 Cox's Lagoon Belize River 7 Macal River 9 Mussel Creek 11 Sittee River 13 Sibun River 14 New River 15 Raspaculo River 16 Elevation Reference 1-200 m 33 1-200 m 37 1-200 m 38 1-200 m 39 201-400 m 40 1:50,000 Quadrangle Reference 17 45' to 18 00'; 88 30' to 88 45' 15 17 45' to 18 00'; 88 15' to 88 30' 39 17 45' to 18 00'; 88 00' to 88 15' 6 17 30' to 17 45'; 89 00' to 89 15' 19 17 30' to 17 45'; 89 00' to 89 15' 20 17 30' to 17 45'; 89 00' to 89 15' 38 17 30' to 17 45'; 89 00' to 89 15' 5 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 45' to 89 00' 38 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 30' to 88 45' 23 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 30' to 88 45' 25 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 30' to 88 45' 29 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 30' to 88 45' 37 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 10' to 88 30' 38 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 10' to 88 30' 5 17 30' to 17 45'; 88 00' to 88 15' 6 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 45' to 89 00' 21 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 45' to 89 00' 7 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 30' to 88 45' 24 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 30' to 88 45' 33 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 30' to 88 45' 38 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 30' to 88 45' 4 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 10' to 88 30' 8 17 15' to 17 30'; 88 00' to 88 10' 8 17 00' to 17 15'; 89 00' to 89 15' 40 17 00' to 17 15'; 89 00' to 89 15' 9 17 00' to 17 15'; 88 45' to 89 00' 27 17 00' to 17 15'; 88 45' to 89 00' 38 17 00' to 17 15'; 88 45' to 89 00' 5 17 00' to 17 15'; 88 30' to 88 45' 33 17 00' to 17 15'; 88 30' to 88 45' 38 17 00' to 17 15'; 88 30' to 88 45' 5 16 45' to 17 00'; 89 00' to 89 15' 10 16 45' to 17 00'; 88 45' to 89 00' 16 16 45' to 17 00'; 88 30' to 88 45' 36 16 45' to 17 00'; 88 15' to 88 30' 13 16 45' to 17 00'; 88 15' to 88 30' 33 16 45' to 17 00'; 88 00' to 88 10' 19 16 30' to 16 45'; 88 30' to 88 45' 36 16 15' to 16 30'; 88 15' to 88 30' 34 18 00' to 18 15'; 88 30' to 88 45' 33 17 00' to 17 15'; 87 30' to 87 45' 30 17 00' to 17 15'; 87 30' to 87 45' 31 17 00' to 17 15'; 87 30' to 87 45' 32 17 15' to 17 30'; 87 45' to 88 00' 28 18 00' to 18 15'; 88 15' to 88 30' 12 17 45' to 18 00'; 89 00' to 89 15' 22 17 45' to 18 00'; 89 00' to 89 15' 33 17 45' to 18 00'; 88 45' to 89 00' 17 17 45' to 18 00'; 88 45' to 89 00' 33 Holdridge Life Zone Reference Tropical moist-transition to Subtropical 38 Tropical moist-transition to Subtropical 33 Tropical moist-transition to Subtropical 27 Subtropical wet 36 Subtropical moist 40 Subtropical moist 39 Subtropical moist 38 Subtropical moist 37 Subtropical moist 33 Subtropical moist 29 Marine 32 Marine 31 Marine 30 General Distribution Comments 43* Common northern semideciduous moist forest. Common southern moist-wet evergreen broadleaf forests. Common Mtn. Pine Ridge/savannas on poor soil. Common coastal/low-lands savannas, inc. marshy areas. Common mangroves lowlands & coastal beaches. Common cayes inc. Ambergris. 3* Common in northern hardwood forests, common in southern hardwood forests, uncommon in the Mountain Pine Ridge, common in coastal savannahs, common in mangroves and beaches along the coast of the mainland, uncommon cayes inc. Ambergris. 27* NE portion TMNR, base camp Pook's Hill 25* Big Falls Rice Farm 24* Big Falls 19* Stann Creek 17* Gold Button Ranch; Large rookery (ca. 50 nests) located on Gold Button Lagoon. 13* Possum Point Biological Station 9* Sighted at or within 5 mile radius of Chaa Creek Cottages 7* Banana Bank Ranch References 1 A.O.U. 1983. Checklist of North American Birds. 6th Ed. 2 A.O.U. 1985, 1987, 1989. 35th-37th Supplements. 3 Wood, D.S.,R. C. Leberman, and D. Weyer. 1986. Checklist of Birds of Belize. Carnegie Museum of Natural History Special Publication 12. 4 Hunt, H. R., J. Tamarack. 1992. Cox Lagoon Crocodile Preserve. Unpub. report. pp.4-8 5 Miller, B. W., 1994. Belize Christmas Bird Counts, Twenty Year Summary. in prep. 6 McRae, E. 1993. Preliminary Check-list - Birds of Caye Caulker. 7 Duncan, M., W. Duncan. 1993. Banana Bank, Nov. 1, Checklist provided in lit. 8 Miller, B., C. Miller. 1993. Preliminary Avian Survey of Burdon Canal Nature Reserve. Unpublished report for the Forest Department 9 Carnegie Ornithological Group and Mass Audubon Ornithological Group, compilers. 1993. Chaa Creek Bird List. Unpublished list. 10 Miller, B. W., C. M. Miller. 1994, Birds of Caracol, 1988 - 1993. in prep. 11 Miller, B., C. Miller. 1987. Conservation of a Critical Marsh and Lowland habitat, Mussel Creek drainage system, Belize, C.A. Report to NYZS/Wildlife Conservation Society. 12 Miller, B., C. Miller. 1994. Avian Surveys: Freshwater Creek Forest Reserve 1-10 March. Unpublished Report to the Forestry Dept. 13 Anon. 1993. Bird Checklist for Possum Point Biological Station, Sittee River, Belize 14 Anon. 1994. Monkey Bay Checklist of Birds. Unpublished list. 15 Noble, B., B. Stewart, J. Dillon. 1994. Lamanai Bird List, Mid-October 1993 - 16 March 1994. 16 Mallory, E. 1993. Birds of the Upper Raspaculo, Belize: JSSEUR II. Unpublished report. 17 Platt, S. 1993. Wildlife Survey of Gold Button Ranch, Belize. Unpublished report. 18 McDuffie, P. 1993. Personal Bird List for Belize: September 1, 1989 - December 15, 1993. Unpublished list. 19 Russell, S. M. 1964. A Distributional Study of the Birds of British Honduras. Ornithological Monographs No. 1, A.O.U. 20 Miller, B., C. Miller. 1994. A working checklist of the birds of Gallon Jug. Unpublished list. 21 Robbins, C. S., 1987. Birds recorded at Guanacaste National Park. Unpublished list. 22 Anon. 1994 (August). Working Checklist, Birds of Rio Bravo Conservation Management Area. Unpublished list. 23 O'Connell, S. 1987. in Horwich, R. H. and J. Lyon. The Community Baboon Sanctuary, A Guide Book. Orangu-tan Press, Gays Mills, WI. pp. 113. 24 Counsell, D.J.R., B. Etheridge. 1986. RAFOS Expedition to Belize. Unpublished 25 Hallchurch, T.T., compiler. 1982. Exercise King Vulture Belize 23 Feb.- 16 March. Unpub. report for the British Army Bird Watching Society. 26 Jenkins, P. G. 1982. The Royal Air Force Ornithological Society Belize Expedition, 1981. 80.pp Unpublished report. 27 Miller, C.M., B.W. Miller. 1994. Preliminary Faunal Surveys at Tapir Mt. Nature Reserve, 27 Nov.-5 Dec., 1994. Unpublished report for BAS. 28 Platt, S. G. 1994. Checklist of Fauna Recorded During Crocodile Surveys of Turneffe Atoll. Unpub. checklist. 29 James, D., J. Bider. 1993. Bird List: Community Baboon Sanctuary, 1989- 1993 (derived from banding & census data, field notes). Unpublished data 30 Meadows, M. 1982. A Trip to Half Moon Caye 26-30 July, 1982. Belize Audubon Society Bulletin. 14(6):1-2. 31 Miller, C. M., B. W. Miller. 1995. Avian Surveys: Half Moon Caye Natural Monument. Unpublished report for Belize Audubon Society. 32 Pomeroy, C. 1989. Internship Report, Half Moon Caye Natural Monument. Unpublished report for Belize Audubon Society. 33 Robbins, Chandler. 1996. U.S.F.& Wildlife Service Wintering Bird Surveys for Belize. Unpublished data provided by C. Robbins. 34 Meerman, J.C. ed. 1995. Monkey River Special Development Area Stann Creek District, Belize. Belize Tropical Forest Studies Publication #5. Appendix: Bird List. Unpublished Technical report for B.E.S.T. 35 Title 50 Code of Federal Regulations, Subchapter B., Part 10.13: List of Migratory Birds. U.S. Government Printing Office: 1985 0-488-794. (Lists all species of migratory birds protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (16 U.S.C. 703-711). 36 Kamstra, J. May 1987. An Ecological Survey of the Cockscomb Basin, Belize. Masters Thesis. York University, Ontario, Canada 37 Vallely, A. C., A. A. Whitman. 1996. The birds of Hill Bank, northern Belize. Unpublished report for Programme for Belize. 38 Miller, B. W. 1997. Belize Christmas Bird Count Summary 1970-1995. Data from American Birds Vol. 28-50 including 1973-1996. 39 ROM. 1997. Royal Ontario Museum, Division of Birds, Holdings of Belize specimens through Jan. 1, 1997. Provided by Brad Millen. 40 Panza, R. 1997. Carnegie Museum, Division of Birds, Holdings of Belize specimens through Jun. 1, 1997. 41 Howell, S. N. G., S. Webb. 1995. A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America. New York. Oxford University Press. 42 Miller, B.W., C.M. Miller. 1997. Avian Risk Assessment for Belize, Species at Risk and of Conservation Concern. Report to Programme for Belize/TNC Wings of America Program. 43 Garcia, J., S. Matola, M. Meadows, and C. Wright. 1994. A Checklist of the Birds of Belize. WWF-US. 35p.
Wildlife Conservation Society
Ministry of Natural Resources' Land Information Centre
01/19/98