The cattle egret is so called because of its symbiotic relationship with water buffaloes. The cattle egret eatsinsects that otherwise would bother the water buffaloes. Water buffaloes as farm animals are pretty much a thing of the past, but I've seen both water buffaloes and cattle egrets together in Yang Ming Mountain National Park.
On July 18, 2010, as I was returning from a bicycle trip from Shih-lin to the beach beyond Fisherman's Wharf, I ran across a cattle egret in a plowed field. It let me get close enough to take the following pictures.
Cattle egrets are distinctive by the orange coloration that appears along the nape of the neck during mating seasons. The photos below were taken near the Tamsui (Danshui) River just east of the point where Huangsi Creek empties into the river.
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