Cattle egrets anyone?

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BFE

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At least I think they are. Anybody have these around?
 

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They're here from late spring thru late fall, walking among the cattle. Still a few here right now but not like a couple of months ago. When the bugs leave, they do too.
Saw about 20 in a small tree by the pond a couple weeks ago and there haven't been but a few around since. Maybe they were grouping to fly south.
 
First I've ever seen them. They were gone when I came back a couple hours later. One of my dogs may have chased them off, I've got a terrier/heeler bitch who has a special hatred for anything that flies.
 
Like @greybeard said, they're very common here. I grew up hearing them called "tick birds", and was told that they pick ticks off of cattle, but I have since come to believe that's not the case. They're always around cattle because as the cows graze they kick up insects that the birds then grab and eat.

I've also had them following me around when mowing weeds for the same reason.
 
Mainly see em in the summer. Cows will chase em occasionally. They'll follow a tractor around too. I always wondered what it would look like if one got caught in an implement. Never happened though.
 
There everywhere here. Around and on cows and in the fields. I usually kill 2-3 a year with the bush hog or disk, they spot a meal that's just a little too close and get caught. Funniest thing is watching one get a mouse or small snake and the chase is on by the others, they will chase it for minutes until he drops it then another one picks it up and the chase is on again. This may go on for 10-15 minutes.
 
When I lived in Ontario we would see one almost every year immediately after the cows were put to grass. Hang around 2-3 days, then gone. Never saw a pair, Dad called them African egrets.
 

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