Eastern Cattle-Egret

The eastern cattle-egret is a heron found in the tropics, subtropics and warm temperate zones, native to southern and eastern Asia and Australasia. It was formerly lumped with the western cattle egret but the two are now separate species. It is white, with buff plumes in the breeding season, and is more closely related to the herons of Ardea than to the egrets of Egretta (Wikipedia, general species account).

It uses drier, more open habitats than most herons and often accompanies cattle or other large mammals, catching insects and small vertebrates they disturb; it also removes ticks and flies from cattle. It nests in colonies, usually near water, on a stick platform in trees or shrubs. Nationally Least Concern (Sri Lanka National Red List 2012, listed as Bubulcus ibis, Cattle Egret, before the split).