Help me to confirm ID

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Chinese Sparrowhawk?



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Little Egret or Chinese Egret?



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Great Egret or Intermediate Egret? The Black tip on the bill point to Intermediate Egret but the Kinky neck points to Great Egret. Got me so confused.

Thanks.

1. male adult Crested Goshawk, told by the big fluffy vent and it has up to 6 fingers on each wing but Chinese Goshawk only have 4. Chinese Goshawk have an orange cere, yellow over here.

2. Little Egret, the black bill is the key, the Little Egret is the main species who possess a black bill, Intermediate Egrets only possess black bills during breeding here.

3. Angle is bad to tell, this fella sorta have profile of both, but from this angle, the gapeline did not seemed to be well pass the eye, eyes a bit warmer than serious, legs comparatively short, neck did not seemed to be extremely long and black tip on bill, chances of Intermediate is still much higher than Greater.

The kink on neck is not a good feature, the Intermediate CAN kink its neck but in many posture, it don't quite do so. The black on the bill tip also happens in Great Egrets as well but often even smaller black.

Thanks TOU for the comprehensive explanation on how to ID. Your trouble on the details really help me to ID them better in future. Just the way to learn. I attach here two more pics from different angle for you to better judge it's characteristic. Cheers.

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Ya, these direct side view of the egret face is the best way to ID, confirmed, Intermediate...... the last shot also show a nice rounded crown which is much flatter in the Great Egrets usually.....

Thanks TOU.

For me the easiest way to ID Great and Int Egrets is the length of the gape under the eye. The Great goes way past the eye and the Intermediate is just under the eye.

stephen_h wrote:For me the easiest way to ID Great and Int Egrets is the length of the gape under the eye. The Great goes way past the eye and the Intermediate is just under the eye.

Yup, that is the most definite clue, but his first shot, the angle was bad, only the exact side view is accurate, the other views could easily fool you due to perception, you may have difficulty judging is the gapeline is long or short, this happened to quite some image, especially when you view from the back-side and front-side views, very confusing. However if 2 of them are standing side by side, the size difference will be a very clear clue, direct comparison to the Little and Cattle Egret are also helpful, but one must know how much each Intermediate and Great is larger than these other benchmarks.

Thanks guys for the most helpful tips. Really appreciate them.

Cheers.

jytou wrote:

stephen_h wrote:For me the easiest way to ID Great and Int Egrets is the length of the gape under the eye. The Great goes way past the eye and the Intermediate is just under the eye.

Yup, that is the most definite clue, but his first shot, the angle was bad, only the exact side view is accurate, the other views could easily fool you due to perception, you may have difficulty judging is the gapeline is long or short, this happened to quite some image, especially when you view from the back-side and front-side views, very confusing. However if 2 of them are standing side by side, the size difference will be a very clear clue, direct comparison to the Little and Cattle Egret are also helpful, but one must know how much each Intermediate and Great is larger than these other benchmarks.

Agreed.