General Impact
Cattle egrets are able to thrive in areas densly populated by other species, and this makes them potentially able to over-crowd and out-comepete native birds for nesting areas. A number of articles point out however, that cattle egrets seem to have little or no impact on native bird species they live with. They are known to nest next to and amongst native birds with little or no observable conflict occuring, and because their nesting time is after native Herons, this further reduces threat of competition. Lastly, their diet, which is mostly insects and land invertebrates, does not overlap with native Heron's diets, which are fish and aquatic invertebrates. (GSMFC, 2005)
Location Specific Impacts:Chile Competition: Cattle egrets (Bubulcus ibis) compete for food with native birds (Jaksic, 1998). Hawaii (United States (USA)) Predation: Cattle egrets (Bubulcus ibis) prey on native waterbird chicks, such as those of the 'ae'o or black-necked stilt (Himantopus mexicanus) (Stone and Anderson, 1998).
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