Last week this image appeared on my computer screen, provided as part of the rotating supply of daily imagery that adorns my screensaver. The software has provided loads of stunning natural scenes, but this one made a faux pas!
This is a quite common misconception about birds, especially among lay people: that a small bird accompanying a larger bird is a "baby" of the larger individual. The caption reads "Eastern Great Egrets," indicating that the two are the same species, and the "Watch carefully young pupil" caption implies the smaller is a youngster. But they are clearly different species. The larger is indeed a Great Egret- the same species we have in Louisiana, which is very widespread globally. The smaller looks to me like an Old World species called the Little Egret, although I have not done the necessary analysis to make a definitive call. At any rate, it is not a Great Egret!
By the time young birds acquire normal (vs. downy) feathers, they are approximately the same size as adults. Thus, it basically never makes sense to interpret a small but otherwise normal appearing bird as the baby of a larger bird. Babies are only smaller than adults when they are still in the downy, stubby-tail phase, which typically only lasts a few weeks out of the nest.
The evening after this picture appeared, my sixteen year old came walking in the front door, excited because he had spied an Eastern Screech Owl on the wire in our front yard. He promptly announced, "Dad, there's a baby owl on the wire outside!"
Even in my own family! Aargh!
Peter
