November 2006. Western Reef Heron images, The Gambia,
West Africa.
| During a Birdfinders tour to The Gambia we observed good numbers of Western Reef Herons. All were in saline habitats and all of the birds that we saw, about 175 in all, were dark morphs. We didn’t note any white or intermediate morphs throughout our two week trip.
The birds were of particular interest since they closely resembled the internet images of the recent dark morph egret in Maine/New Hampshire earlier this fall, a bird which I didn’t get to see due to commitments elsewhere. Excellent images and a write up of that bird can be seen on the Stokes birding blog.
The egrets observed in The Gambia appeared to be a very close match to the ME/NH bird, differing mostly in the fact that the Gambian birds were not in ‘high-breeding’ condition in November and therefore lacked elongated nape plumes. Otherwise the similarities were rather striking. Nearly all of the birds showed striking black legs with sharply demarcated and contrasting yellow feet. The bill shape looked rather straight compared to my experience with the Eastern form of Western Reef Heron E.g. schistacea, and although variably dark, none of the adult birds that we saw showed anything like the yellowish bill color that I’ve seen in hundreds of encounters with schistacea. Only two immatures were observed, and these did show a lighter colored bill (fleshy-brown) and legs (pale grayish-green).
The ME/NH egret does show a striking resemblance to the dark morph egrets present on the West African coast, most popularly referred to as Western Reef Heron Egretta gularis of the western form gularis. It remains to be seen whether or not this form becomes ‘Southern Little Egret’ in the near future.
| Images taken using Canon Powershot A540 through Swarovski scope
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Western Reef Heron, Kotu River, 11/11/06.
Western Reef Heron, immature, Kotu sewage ponds, 11/11/06.
  Western Reef Heron, Tanji bird reserve, 11/16/06.
Western Reef Heron, a different individual with an adult Kelp Gull, Tanji bird reserve, 11/16/06.
  Western Reef Heron, Cape Point, 11/23/06.
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