Ardea modesta
Silhouette: Giles Laurent · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The eastern great egret (Ardea alba modesta) is a species of heron from the genus Ardea, usually considered a subspecies of the great egret (A. alba). In New Zealand it is known as the white heron or by its Māori name kōtuku. It was first described by British ornithologist John Edward Gray in 1831.
This species was originally described as the "pure white heron of India", Ardea modesta, by Gray in 1831, but was later generally considered a synonym of Ardea alba, by Ellman in 1861 through to the Peters checklist in 1979. It was elevated to species status again by Sibley and Monroe in 1990, and this was supported by a 2005 revision of the herons. It is still sometimes considered a subspecies of the great egret Ardea alba.
Measuring 83–103 centimetres (33–41 in) in length and weighing 0.7–1.2 kilograms (1 lb 9 oz – 2 lb 10 oz), the eastern great egret is a large heron with all-white plumage. Its bill is black in the breeding season and yellow at other times, and its long legs are red or black. The colours of the bare parts of the face change to green during the breeding season. The breeding plumage is also marked by long neck plumes and a green facial area... Wikipedia →
Recording0:04
Australia · 2023
© Vermilingua_pygmaeus · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fiordland National Park | 🇳🇿 New Zealand | |
| 2 | Kakadu National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 3 | Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 4 | Abel Tasman National Park | 🇳🇿 New Zealand | |
| 5 | Daintree National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an Ardea modesta sighting in Mumbai on a given day, based on 12 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 80th most-seen of the 283 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report an Ardea modesta in Mumbai on a given day, against under 5% in April, September and November–December, the lowest months. That is one of Mumbai's driest months, with almost no rain against 830 mm in July.
Between 5 and 8 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Ardea modesta sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
9th of 15
Of the 15 cities where we can rate Ardea modesta sightings, Mumbai ranks 9th at about 10%. The best odds are in Sendai (Japan, about 40%), Fukuoka (Japan, about 20%) and Denpasar (Indonesia, about 20%).
Same genus: Ardea
The closest relatives of the Ardea modesta that you can see in Mumbai (genus Ardea, Great Herons and Egrets) are Great Egret (about 30%), Grey Heron (about 20%) and Purple Heron (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Ardea modesta is recorded against all the birds logged in Mumbai (12 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
