Egretta gularis
Silhouette: L. Shyamal · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%
The western reef heron (Egretta gularis), also called the western reef egret, is a medium-sized heron found in Africa and parts of Asia, with vagrancy occurring in Europe and the Americas. It has a mainly coastal distribution and occurs in several plumage forms: a slaty-grey plumage which can only be confused with the rather uncommon dark morph of the little egret (Egretta garzetta); a white form which can look very similar to the little egret, although the reef heron's bill tends to be paler and larger; and a black form with a white throat, E. g. gularis, found in West Africa. There are also differences in size, structure and foraging behaviour. There have been suggestions that the species hybridizes with the little egret, and based on this, some authors treat schistacea and gularis as subspecies of Egretta garzetta. Works that consider the western reef heron as a valid species include the nominate gularis and schistacea as subspecies.
This bird has two plumage colour forms. There is an all-white morph and a dark grey morph; morphs can also occur with intermediate shades of grey which may be related to age or particoloured in grey and white. The white morph is similar... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Snowdonia National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 2 | Gir National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Niokolo-Koba National Park | 🇸🇳 Senegal | |
| 4 | Yala National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manama | 🇧🇭 Bahrain | |
| 2 | Kuwait City | 🇰🇼 Kuwait | |
| 3 | Karachi | 🇵🇰 Pakistan | |
| 4 | Dakar | 🇸🇳 Senegal | |
| 5 | Serrekunda | 🇬🇲 Gambia | |
| 6 | Dammam | 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia | |
| 7 | Lagos | 🇳🇬 Nigeria | |
| 8 | Accra | 🇬🇭 Ghana | |
| 9 | Abidjan | 🇨🇮 Côte d'Ivoire | |
| 10 | Abu Dhabi | 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Western Reef Egret sighting in Niokolo-Koba National Park on a given day, based on 18 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 158th most-seen of the 215 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March and April
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Western Reef Egret in Niokolo-Koba National Park on a given day, against under 5% in August–September and November–February, the lowest months. Those are among Niokolo-Koba National Park's driest months, with almost no rain against 300 mm in August. May–July and October have too few records to rate.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Western Reef 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 4
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Western Reef Egret sightings, Niokolo-Koba National Park ranks 3rd at about 10%. The best odds are in Snowdonia National Park (United Kingdom, about 20%) and Gir National Park (India, about 10%).
Same genus: Egretta
The closest relatives of the Western Reef Egret that you can see in Niokolo-Koba National Park (genus Egretta, Small Egrets and Herons) are Little Egret (about 20%) and intermediate egret (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Western Reef Egret is recorded against all the birds logged in Niokolo-Koba National Park (18 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.
