Reddish Egret (Egretta rufescens)

Koczur, Lianne M.; Green, M. Clay; Ballard, Bart M.; Lowther, Peter E.; Paul, Richard T.

doi:10.2173/bow.redegr.01

Cited by 5 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…We determined nest success by the number of days that an individual spent at a particular location within a colony. The average incubation period for a reddish egret is 26 days (Paul 1991); therefore, if a bird was at a colony for ≥ 36 days (five days for courtship/nest construction, five days for egg laying, 26 days for incubation; Koczur et al 2020) the nest was assumed to have successfully hatched.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Laguna Madre of Texas supports some of the highest concentrations of nesting reddish egrets in North America (Green 2005), as well as large numbers throughout the non‐breeding period. The reddish egret was described as resident throughout most of its range (Paul 1991) or at most, considered to be ‘weakly migratory' (Koczur et al 2020); however, there are limited data that support the resident or migratory status of the species. The recovery and resighting of adult reddish egrets from Mexico, Guatemala, and El Salvador that were originally banded in Texas, USA, (Telfair and Swepston 1987, Bent 1926) suggests that there is dispersal out of Texas, or that a portion of the Texas population is migratory.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Drivers of partial migration in the reddish egret Egretta rufescens

Koczur,

Ballard

2023

Journal of Avian Biology

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The reddish egret Egretta rufescens is North America's rarest Ardeidae and is listed as ‘Near Threatened' by the IUCN, as endangered in Mexico, and as a species of conservation concern throughout much of its range in the United States. Little is known about the migratory behavior of the reddish egret. Individuals that were banded during the breeding season in Texas, USA, have been resighted away from breeding areas; however, records are limited and the extent of migration is unknown. Using GPS transmitters, we found reddish egrets breeding in southern Texas exhibited a partial migration strategy, with 39% of the marked population migrating from breeding sites. We assessed the dominance, body size, and arrival time hypotheses to better understand the drivers of partial migration. We did not find support for the body size hypothesis and found mixed support for the dominance hypothesis; both males and females migrated, and migratory status of individuals did not change across the years of study. Long‐distance migrants were also larger than resident individuals. We found some support for the arrival time hypothesis; residents began breeding earlier than long‐distance migrants and had moderately greater nest success. However, within long‐distance migrants, an earlier arrival to breeding areas did not necessarily equate to earlier nesting or greater nest success. This study is the first to examine the migratory behavior of adult reddish egrets and assesses the dominance, body size, and arrival time hypotheses as explanations for partial migration in this species. Further, the results of this study emphasize the need for international conservation efforts.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Drivers of partial migration in the reddish egret Egretta rufescens

Koczur,

Ballard

2023

Journal of Avian Biology

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“…Dates of the three records, and this individual's extended residence at Pacoa, suggest a tendency of this species to establish itself temporarily at new localities after post-breeding dispersal, and to complete pre-basic molt before migrating back to its breeding grounds. It breeds in southern North America, the Caribbean, and the northern coast of South America (Koczur et al, 2020).…”

Section: Reddish Egret Egretta Rufescensmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fifth Report of the Committee for Ecuadorian Records in Ornithology (Cero), With Comments on Some Published, Undocumented Records

Freile¹,

Olmstead²,

Athanas³

et al. 2020

Rev. Ecuatoriana Orn.

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Wepresent new distributional records of birds in Ecuador evaluated by the Committee for Ecuadorian Records in Ornithology (CERO) from November 2017 through June 2019. This report includes two species new to Ecuador (Pelecanoides garnotii, Conirostrum margaritae), five species with first documented country records (Thaumastura cora, Anous minutus, Setophaga pensylvanica, S. virens, Spiza americana), two species with first documented Galapagos records (Oceanodroma hornbyi, Egretta tricolor), remarkable range extensions for 15 species (Amazilia amazilia, Aramus guarauna, Vanellus chilensis, Attagis gayi, Anous stolidus, Sterna hirundo, Thalasseus elegans, T. sandvicensis, Eurypyga helias, Mycteria americana, Plegadis falcinellus, Gampsonyx swainsonii, Rosthramus sociabilis, Glaucidium peruanum, Thlypopsis sordida), new records of 16 rare species (Oressochen jubatus, Spatula cyanoptera, Podiceps major, Stercorarius longicaudus, Larus belcheri, Pelagodroma marina, Oceanodroma markhami, Egretta rufescens, Plegadis ridgwayi, Buteo swainsonii, Megascops koepckeae, Tyrannus albogularis, Setophaga castanea, Dolichonyx oryzivorus, Icterus chrysater, I. galbula) and additional records for 8 species. Finally, we invalidate previous records of Pyrilia pyrilia published in different sources, reject records of six species submitted to CERO, and discuss six previously published, undocumented records that might prove erroneous. CERO revises and updates the country bird list, which currently stands at 1696 species (1642 confirmed and documented; 54 undocumented).

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“…According to Watanabe (2018 , p. 2645), the Ardeidae show “prominent interspecific variation in the length of the distal leg even among closely related species, which is associated with foraging behavior…” and their “apparently unique ontogenetic trajectory might have facilitated diversification of distal leg length and hence foraging habitat segregation in this family.” For example, taller birds are able to forage at greater water depths ( McKilligan 2005 , p. 34; Morales 2018 ) and capture larger prey than relatively short-legged species. Furthermore, while taller species, for example, the Reddish Egret ( E. rufescens ), regularly hunt by active wading ( Koczur et al. 2020 ) or, as in the Great Egret ( A. alba ), may walk slowly across wide expanses, shorter-legged taxa, such as the Green Heron ( Butorides virescens ), often perch on roots or branches and wait for prey to come within striking range, a relatively low-energy hunting strategy ( Meyerriecks 1960 ; Kushlan 1978 ; Kushlan and Hancock 2005 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Morphological Covariance and Onset of Foot Prehensility as Indicators of Integrated Evolutionary Dynamics in the Herons (Ardeidae)

Riegner

Bassar

2023

Integrative Organismal Biology

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The ultimate form an organism attains is based, in part, on the rate and timing of developmental trajectories and on compensatory relationships between morphological traits. For example, there is often an inverse correlation between the relative size of an organism's head and the length of its legs. Avian examples with a disproportionately small head and long legs include ostriches (Struthionidae), flamingos (Phoenicopteridae), cranes (Gruidae), and stilts (Recurvirostridae). To determine whether a possible compensatory relationship exists between relative head size and hind-limb length in a typically long-legged family of birds—the Ardeidae—we measured and analyzed skull dimensions (length, width, and height of cranium, and bill length) and skeletal hind-limb dimensions (femur, tibiotarsus, and tarsometatarsus) of the 12 North American species (north of Mexico) and of 12 additional taxa, including the morphologically divergent Agamia and Cochlearius. We found that Ardea species exhibit the smallest relative head sizes associated with the longest legs, while Butorides, Nycticorax, Nyctanassa, and Cochlearius have among the largest heads relative to hind-limb length. Furthermore, both positive and negative allometries occur in paired comparisons between the three hind-limb bones, expressed in tall morphotypes having disproportionately short femurs while short-legged morphotypes exhibit disproportionately long femurs; we show that this relationship has implications for foraging behavior. Moreover, the nestlings of short-legged herons exhibit functional precociality of the hind limbs through an early onset of prehensile ability of the feet to grasp branches, which is later expressed in adult foraging mode. This developmentally accelerated prehensile function in small-bodied species may be attributed, in part, to selection for predator avoidance in the early nestling stage.

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Reddish Egret (Egretta rufescens)

Cited by 5 publications

References 0 publications

Drivers of partial migration in the reddish egret Egretta rufescens

Drivers of partial migration in the reddish egret Egretta rufescens

Fifth Report of the Committee for Ecuadorian Records in Ornithology (Cero), With Comments on Some Published, Undocumented Records

Morphological Covariance and Onset of Foot Prehensility as Indicators of Integrated Evolutionary Dynamics in the Herons (Ardeidae)

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