Editing Cattle egret (section)

== Ecology and behavior ==
===Voice===
[[File:Bubulcus ibis - Western Cattle Egret XC463749.mp3|thumb|Multiple contact calls at a nighttime roost.]]
The cattle egret gives a quiet, throaty ''rick-rack'' call at the breeding colony, but is otherwise largely silent.<ref name=BNA/>

===Breeding===
The cattle egret nests in [[Bird colony|colonies]], which are often found around bodies of water.<ref name=BNA/> The colonies are usually found in woodlands near lakes or rivers, in swamps, or on small inland or coastal islands, and are sometimes shared with other wetland birds, such as [[herons]], [[egrets]], [[ibises]], and [[cormorant]]s. The breeding season varies within [[South Asia]].<ref name=Rasmussen/> Nesting in northern [[India]] begins with the onset of monsoons in May.<ref name=Hilaluddin2005/> The breeding season in [[Australia]] is November to early January, with one brood laid per season.<ref name=Ber93/> The North American breeding season lasts from April to October.<ref name=BNA/> In the [[Seychelles]], the breeding season of  ''B. i. seychellarum'' is April to October.<ref name=Seychelles/>

The male displays in a tree in the colony, using a range of [[ritual]]ised behaviours, such as shaking a twig and sky-pointing (raising his bill vertically upwards),<ref name=Hanzab/> and the pair forms over 3–4 days. A new mate is chosen in each season and when renesting following nest failure.<ref name=kushlan/> The nest is a small, untidy platform of sticks in a tree or shrub constructed by both parents. Sticks are collected by the male and arranged by the female, and stick-stealing is rife.<ref name=NMcKilligan/> The [[Clutch (eggs)|clutch]] size can be one to five eggs, although three or four is most common. The pale bluish-white eggs are oval-shaped and measure {{convert|45|x|53|mm|in|frac=4|abbr=on}}.<ref name=Ber93/> [[Avian incubation|Incubation]] lasts around 23&nbsp;days, with both sexes sharing incubation duties.<ref name=BNA/> The chicks are partly covered with [[down feather|down]] at hatching, but are [[Nidicolous|not capable of fending for themselves]]; they become capable of [[Thermoregulation|regulating their temperature]] at 9–12&nbsp;days and are fully feathered in 13–21&nbsp;days.<ref name=Hudson1974/> They begin to leave the nest and climb around at 2&nbsp;weeks, [[fledge]] at 30&nbsp;days and become independent at around the 45th day.<ref name=kushlan/>

The cattle egret engages in low levels of [[brood parasitism]], and a few instances have been reported of cattle egret eggs being laid in the nests of [[snowy egret]]s and [[little blue heron]]s, although these eggs seldom hatch.<ref name=BNA/> Also, evidence of low levels of intraspecific brood parasitism has been found, with females laying eggs in the nests of other cattle egrets. As much as 30% [[extra-pair copulation]]s has been noted.<ref name=Fujioka1981/><ref name=McKilligan1990/>

The dominant factor in nesting mortality is starvation. Sibling rivalry can be intense, and in [[South Africa]], third and fourth chicks inevitably starve.<ref name=kushlan/> In the dryer habitats with fewer amphibians, the diet may lack sufficient vertebrate content and may cause bone abnormalities in growing chicks due to calcium deficiency.<ref name=Phalen/> In [[Barbados]], nests were sometimes raided by [[vervet monkey]]s,<ref name=Krebs/> and a study in Florida reported the [[fish crow]] and [[black rat]] as other possible nest raiders. The same study attributed some nestling mortality to [[brown pelican]]s nesting in the vicinity, which accidentally, but frequently, dislodged nests or caused nestlings to fall.<ref name=Maxwell/> In Australia, [[Torresian crow]]s, [[wedge-tailed eagle]]s, and [[white-bellied sea eagle]]s take eggs or young, and [[tick]] infestation and [[virus|viral]] infections may also be causes of mortality.<ref name=NMcKilligan/>

<gallery mode="packed" heights="140">
Héron garde-bœufs MHNT.jpg|Cattle egret egg
Starr 030628-0097 Neonotonia wightii.jpg|Juvenile [[western cattle egret]] on [[Maui]] (note black bill)
</gallery>

===Feeding===
[[File:Bubulcus ibis on nest, Apenheul Primate Park, Apeldoorn, Netherlands.jpg|thumb|Adult [[western cattle egret]] feeding a nestling in [[Apenheul]] zoo]]
[[File:Bubulcus ibis -Gambia -frog in beak-8.jpg|thumb|upright|A nonbreeding adult [[western cattle egret]] eating a frog in [[the Gambia]].]]
The cattle egret feeds on a wide range of prey, particularly [[insect]]s, especially [[grasshopper]]s, [[cricket (insect)|crickets]], [[fly|flies]] (adults and maggots), [[beetle]]s, and [[moth]]s, as well as [[spider]]s, [[frog]]s, [[fish]], [[crayfish]], small [[snake]]s, [[lizard]]s and [[earthworm]]s.<ref name=Seedikkoya2007/><ref name="Hosein">{{cite book |last=Hosein|first=Melinda|url=https://sta.uwi.edu/fst/lifesciences/sites/default/files/lifesciences/images/Bubulcus_ibis%20-%20Cattle%20Egret.pdf|title= The Online Guide to the Animals of Trinidad and Tobago|date=2012|pages=1–4}}</ref><ref name=Siegfried1971/><ref name=Fogarty1973/> In a rare instance, they have been observed foraging along the branches of a [[banyan]] tree for ripe figs.<ref name=Chaturvedi1993/> The cattle egret is usually found with [[cattle]] and other large grazing and browsing animals, and catches small creatures disturbed by the mammals. Studies have shown that cattle egret foraging success is much higher when foraging near a large animal than when feeding singly.<ref name=Grubb1976/> When foraging with cattle, it has been shown to be 3.6&nbsp;times more successful in capturing prey than when foraging alone. Its performance is similar when it follows [[farm machinery]], but it is forced to move more.<ref name=Dinsmore1973/> In urban situations, cattle egrets have also been observed foraging in peculiar situations such as railway lines.<ref name=Devasahayam2009/>

A cattle egret will weakly defend the area around a grazing animal against others of the same species, but if the area is swamped by egrets, it will give up and continue foraging elsewhere. Where numerous large animals are present, cattle egrets selectively forage around species that move at around 5–15&nbsp;steps per minute, avoiding faster and slower moving herds; in Africa, cattle egrets selectively forage behind [[plains zebra]]s, [[waterbuck]], [[blue wildebeest]] and [[Cape buffalo]].<ref name=Burger1993/> [[Dominance (ethology)|Dominant]] birds feed nearest to the host, and thus obtain more food.<ref name=NMcKilligan/>

The cattle egret sometimes shows versatility in its diet. On islands with [[seabird colony|seabird colonies]], it will prey on the eggs and chicks of [[tern]]s and other [[seabird]]s.<ref name=Lever/> During [[bird migration|migration]], it has also been reported to eat exhausted migrating landbirds.<ref name=Cunningham1965/> Birds of the Seychelles race also indulge in some [[kleptoparasitism]], chasing the chicks of [[sooty tern]]s and forcing them to disgorge food.<ref name=Feare1975/>

===Threats===
Pairs of [[crested caracara]]s have been observed chasing cattle egrets in flight, forcing them to the ground, and killing them.<ref name=deGodoy/>