Medium Egret Ardea intermedia has head more rounded than Great EgretA. alba. Gape line ends below eye, shorter than Great Egret. Medium Egret is noticeably larger than Eastern Cattle Egret A. coromanda and non-breeding has yellow bill tipped black. Black feet separate from Little Egret and Chinese Egret and is noticeably larger than Little Egret. Photo: Hengsha Island, Shanghai, November. (Craig Brelsford).Medium Egret with eel, Hengsha Island, April. Medium Egret is common passage migrant and breeder in Shanghai. (Craig Brelsford)Breeding Medium Egret has black bill and well-developed ornamental plumes on chest and back. Nanchang (28.950667, 115.965667), Jiangxi, China, elev. 40 m (130 ft.), April. (Craig Brelsford)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
MacKinnon, John. Guide to the Birds of China. Oxford University Press, 2022.
Martinez-Vilata, A. and A. Motis. Species account for Intermediate Egret in family Ardeidae (Herons). P. 410 in del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. & Sargatal, J. eds. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 1. Ostrich to Ducks. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain, 1992.
