Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts

Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis)

Abundance:  Very Uncommon (at least 32 records in 14 counties, 4 Kentucky and 10 Tennessee).

Status: Transient during spring (16 records) and fall (10 records, 1 of which overlaps the summer season); rare Summer Visitor (5 records, 1 of which overlaps the fall season), strongly suspected to be breeding in the Region as of May 2007 (probably several years earlier); occasional Winter Visitor (1 record); 1 record without a date (see Remarks); designated as a breeding species of special concern by the Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission (2004); photographs (see links below).

Regional High Count: 3 (on two dates noted below).

Information on Records: 

15 May 1965 (1) Hatches Valley, 23 km north of Livingston, Overton County, Tennessee (observer unspecified; Hollister 1966a).

11 or 12 May 1968 (1) near Thunderbird Motel, Cookeville, Putnam County, Tennessee (fide Ken Leggett; TOS members).

11 November 1978 (1) near Byrdstown, Pickett County, Tennessee (J. David Hassler, Robbie C. Hassler; Bierly 1979b).

14 November 1979 (1) Monroe, Overton County, Tennessee (J. David Hassler; Bierly 1980).

15 May 1983 (1 [JBE notes]) flooded field near Somerset, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Jackie B. Elmore, Sr.; Stamm 1983c).

21 October 1984 (1) Fishing Creek Recreation Area, Lake Cumberland, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Jackie B. Elmore, Sr.; Stamm 1985a).

24 September 1986 (3) Dale Hollow Lake, Overton County, Tennessee (Ruth V. McMillan, Larry McFarlin, Linda Bowman; Stedman 1987a).

12 July 1988 (1 adult) near Cumberland Mountain State Park, Cumberland County, Tennessee (Margaret L. Mann; Knight 1988d).

17 April 1989 (1) Cane Creek Park, Cookeville, Putnam County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman photo; Stedman 1993), photo.

28 April 1998 (1) Cane Creek Park, Cookeville, Putnam County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman; Fekel 1998c).

27 July-15 August 2001 (1-2) Stone Farm near Celina, Clay County, Tennessee (Terry M. Campbell unpubl. data).

11 May 2002 (1) Bledsoe County, Tennessee (Debbie Shannon, Roi Shannon; Hoff 2002c), Spring Bird Count record.

26 October 2002 (1) north of Monterey at Bright property, Putnam County, Tennessee (Betty Bright, Harold Bright photo; Knight 2003a), photo.

5-6 June 2003 (1) Student's Home Rd., DeKalb County, Tennessee (Eddie Fuson, Judy C. Fuson unpubl. data).

19 November 2003 (1) Barren River Reservoir, Barren County, Kentucky (David L.Roemer; Palmer-Ball and McNeeley 2004a).

26/30 April 2004 (3/1) Black Oak Rd./Burgess Falls Rd., White County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman, Douglas A. Downs/Douglas A. Downs unpubl. data).

30 April 2004 (1) Mayland, Cumberland County, Tennessee (Joseph Mast unpubl. data).

2 November 2004 (2) Grass Island, Barren River Reservoir, Barren County, Kentucky (David L. Roemer photo and unpubl. data).

22 April 2005 (1--alternate) Wayne County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton unpubl. data).

13 June 2005 (2--alternate) Tommy Dodson Rd., Putnam County, Tennessee (Daniel L. Combs unpubl. data).

6 May 2006 (1--alternate) Lizard Lane, White County, Tennessee (Michael P. O'Rourke, Thomas Saya).

13 May 2006 (1--alternate) Clemmons Rd. near Lexus Place, Putnam County, Tennessee (Carol D. Williams photo, Janie C. Finch, Nancy S. Layzer, Margo Hinkle).

1 July 2006 (1--basic) Randolph Pond, Walter Stone Rd., White County, Tennessee (Douglas A. Downs, Stephen J. Stedman unpubl. data).

22 October 2006 (1--basic) Free State Rd., Jackson County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman, Winston A. Walden; Casteel 2007a).

11 April 2007 (1--alternate) Macedonia Pond, White County, Tennessee (Douglas A. Downs unpubl. data).

12 April 2007 (1--alternate) Bluff Top Rd., Putnam County, Tennessee (Annette Snow photo and unpubl. data).

1 May 2007 (1) Vicinity of Bowman Loop/Potato Farm Rd., Cumberland County, Tennessee (Winston A. Walden, Michael P. O'Rourke, Tom Saya unpubl. data), a Spring Bird Count record.

12 May 2007 (1--alternate) St. Mary's Rd., Putnam County, Tennessee (Carol D. Williams, Judy C. Fuson, Stephen J. Stedman unpubl. data), a Spring Bird Count record.

10-13 September 2007 (1) Green River, Adair County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton unpubl. data).

11 April 2008 (1) Black Oak Pond, Black Oak Rd., White County, Tennessee (Carol Eagle, Hope High, Don Eagle, Stephen J. Stedman unpubl.).

Out-of-Season Records:

16 February 2008 (1) Will Thompson Pond, Will Thompson Rd., White County, Tennessee (Wally Brines unpubl. data), a Great Backyard Bird Count record.

Regional Extreme Dates: 

    Early Spring: 11 April 2007 (1; White County, Tennessee; Douglas A. Downs unpubl. data) and 11 April 2008 (1; White County, Tennessee; Carol Eagle, Hope High, Don Eagle, Stephen J. Stedman unpubl. data); but see also Out-of-Season Records.

    Late Fall: 19 November 2003 (1; Barren County, Kentucky; David L. Roemer; Palmer-Ball and McNeeley 2004a).

YardWatch Results 2003 and 2004: No registrations.

Habitat: Usually found in large fields near cattle or other large herbivores, but may appear in other habitats, including open water as was the case with the Barren County bird which tried, unsuccessfully, to "roost" with a flock of gulls on Barren River Reservoir (D.L. Roemer, pers. com.).

Remarks: This self-introduced exotic has established rookeries both east and west of the Region in Tennessee and west of the Region in Kentucky, making Regional breeding a distinct possibility at some point in the future, but the small numbers recorded Regionally prior to 2003 suggest that breeding had not yet taken place in the Upper Cumberland Region up to that time.  However,  the increase in sightings since 2003, possibly an artifact of increased numbers of Regional observers, was more probably a sign of the species' real increase in numbers in the Region.  The occurrence of summer records during June 2003 (DeKalb County) and June 2005 (Putnam County) suggests the probability of Regional breeding, not documented as of 2007, as does the occurrence of birds representing post-breeding dispersal in early July 2006 (White County).

    The record without a date was obtained in Warren County, Tennessee (fide C. Douglas Malone), sometime prior to 2000.

Counties with Observations (boldfaced):

To see a map (Figure 1) displaying the data in the table above, click on the boldfaced word in this sentence.

Literature Cited