From the Turks and Caicos Islands Government Press Office, via the Bahamas Weekly:
A bird spotted at Mangrove Cay located within the Princess Alexandra Nature Reserve has stirred discussions among professional members of the Society for the Conservation and Study Caribbean Birds (SCSCB).
Recently, some officers of the Department of Environment and Coastal Resources (DECR), along with the President of the Society for the Conservation and Study of Caribbean Birds (SCSCB), Dr. Lisa Sorenson of Boston University and Ms. Michele Kading, the Head of Interpretation of the Oak Hammock Marsh Interpretive Centre in Manitoba, Canada, and a participant of the Wetlands Education Workshop spotted the dark bird with white feathers on its wings and tail at Mangrove Cay in Princess Alexandra Nature Reserve.
Dr. Sorenson conducted some research on the unique bird and concluded that it was an intermediate morph of the Reddish Egret. She noted that the new Stokes Bird Field Guide says: ” An Intermediate morph is like a dark morph but with some white feathers, often on its wings”. However, the book did not include a photo. She also searched the web but could not find any photos similar to the bird. Dr. Sorenson claimed that she has never seen this intermediate morph before.
Anyone with any additional information on this rare bird is requested to contact SCSCB and the DECR.
See more photos accompanying the news release and in this SCSCB photo album.
[Photo: ©Eric Salamanca via SCSCB]
