Comments on the Identification of the Bicester Wetlands Egret

Some of you may have been following the debate on the identification of the Egret that was found at Bicester Wetlands in the comments section of the appropriate blog entry (see here). Ian Lewington has taken a look and has made these comments.

'From the photos this bird isn't instantly an obvious Great White Egret which should've been a clue. There are all sorts of subjective features to interpret; are the feet yellow or muddy?; is there colour on the tibia?; is there colour on the bill or lores? These are all debatable so best concentrate on what is firmly discernable . . . the proportions. Little Egret is proportionately longer billed than GWE and the jowl area (front of eye to base of the lower mandible) is proportionately shorter in Little. So dividing the total length (c) by the bill length (b) (front of eye to bill tip) gives different scores. 5-5.5 in Little, 6 in GWE. Likewise by dividing the bill length by the jowl gives scores of 5.5-6 in Little and 4 in GWE. I think, in this case, these two ratios are the safest features to use and I believe confirm the Bicester egret as a Little. Good work Ben.
Cheers,
Ian'