(eds.). Ancient Egypt. Egyptian herons are the most land species of the whole family. A heron hieroglyph represents the sun-god Ra. This Old World counterpart to our Snowy Egret was formerly only an accidental visitor to North America, with only one record before 1980. In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. The two forms were split by McAllan and Bruce, but were regarded as conspecific by almost all other recent authors until the publication of the influential Birds of South Asia. A heron’s call is the cry of the sacred Benu-bird (shown at left) that announced the beginning of time in an ancient Egyptian creation myth. Field Guide to the Birds of Macaronesia This Field Guide describes and illustrates all the species and subspecies of birds in Macaronesia (the Azores, Madeira, the Savage Islands, the Canary Islands and Cape Verde). so take it … On colonial nestings, the voices of adult herons are heard, - a dull sound, similar to curling. & de Juana, E. The Benu-bird was associated with the Egyptian calendar and the idea of cyclical renewal. the Temples of Egypt including the pyramids on the myegypttours blog, birds, dragonflies, litraly any thing that takes my fancy I photo. The cattle egret has two geographical races, which are sometimes classified as full species, the western cattle egret, B. ibis, and eastern cattle egret, B. coromandus. Little Egret (Egretta garzetta). Handbook of … (eds.). The nature of this bird is calm, it is silent, it prefers to live a woody lifestyle. I am not too good on the commentary. Since 1980 it has been recorded several times along our Atlantic Coast during the warmer months. Egyptian herons are less fearful than their relatives. & de Juana, E. These strays probably make the crossing from West Africa to the Caribbean, and then migrate north on our side of the Atlantic. In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A.