Egretta intermedia
Silhouette: L. Shyamal · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~90% in a week >90%
The medium egret (Ardea intermedia), median egret, smaller egret or intermediate egret, is a medium-sized heron. Some taxonomists put the species in the genus Egretta or Mesophoyx. It is a resident breeder in southern and eastern Asia.
Some authorities classify the intermediate egret species complex in its own monotypic genus, Mesophoyx, while others place it with the smaller egrets in Egretta. There were three recognised subspecies, and these are sometimes raised into species:
A.i. intermedia Wagler, 1827 "intermediate egret" - Asia from the Russian Far East to Japan to India and the Greater Sundas A.(i.) intermedia differs from A.(i.) brachyrhyncha and A. (i.) plumifera by having a black bill when in breeding plumage, while A.(i.) plumifera has a yellow-and-pink bill and A. (i.) brachyrhyncha has much yellower lores and face. A further difference between this species and the "yellow-billed" species is that the intermediate egret has black at the top of the legs compared to reddish in the yellow-billed... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thiruvananthapuram | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Ponnani | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Kochi | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Dakar | 🇸🇳 Senegal | |
| 5 | Surat | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 6 | Coimbatore | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Kota | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 8 | Brisbane | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 9 | Vasai-Virar | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 10 | Kollam | 🇮🇳 India |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vinpearl Safari | 🇻🇳 Vietnam | |
| 2 | Nehru Zoological Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 4 | Edward Youde Aviary | 🇭🇰 Hong Kong SAR China |
Likely
About 50% of wildlife watchers report an intermediate egret sighting in Kakadu National Park on a given day, based on 1,051 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 12th most-seen of the 186 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 90%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
October
In that month about 60% of wildlife watchers report an intermediate egret in Kakadu National Park on a given day, against about 30% in March–April and December–January, the lowest months. That is one of Kakadu National Park's driest months, with about 25 mm of rain against 350 mm in January. February has too few records to rate.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most intermediate egret sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 84
Of the 84 parks where we can rate intermediate egret sightings, Kakadu National Park ranks 3rd at about 50%. The best odds are in Keoladeo National Park (India, about 60%) and Wilpattu National Park (Sri Lanka, about 50%). All parks ranked.
Same genus: Egretta
The closest relatives of the intermediate egret that you can see in Kakadu National Park (genus Egretta, Small Egrets and Herons) are Pied Heron (about 40%), Little Egret (about 40%) and White-faced Heron (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the intermediate egret is recorded against all the birds logged in Kakadu National Park (1,051 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
