Intermediate Egret (Ardea intermedia) | Details

Intermediate Egret Ardea intermedia

Current view: Data table and detailed info

Taxonomy

Taxonomic note

Ardea intermedia, A. brachyrhyncha and A. plumifera (del Hoyo and Collar 2014) were previously placed in the genus Mesophoyx and lumped as M. intermedia following Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993).

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

IUCN Red List criteria met and history

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2020	Least Concern
2016	Least Concern
2014	Least Concern
2012	Not Recognised
2008	Not Recognised
2004	Not Recognised
2000	Not Recognised
1994	Not Recognised
1988	Not Recognised

Species attributes

Migratory status	full migrant	Forest dependency	low
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

Range

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	30,300,000 km²	medium
Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding)	31,600,000 km²	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

Population

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	unknown	-	-	-
Population trend	decreasing	-	suspected	-
Generation length	5.4 years	-	-	-

Population justification: The global population has not been quantified owing to recent taxonomic splits.

Trend justification: The overall population trend is decreasing, although some populations may be stable and others have unknown trends (Wetlands International 2006).

Country/territory distribution

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor
Bangladesh	extant	native	yes		yes
Bhutan	extant	native	yes
Brunei	extant	native			yes
Cambodia	extant	native	yes		yes
China (mainland)	extant	native	yes	yes	yes
Christmas Island (to Australia)	extant	vagrant
Guam (to USA)	extant	native			yes
India	extant	native	yes		yes
Indonesia	extant	native	yes		yes
Japan	extant	native		yes
Laos	extant	native	yes		yes
Malaysia	extant	native	yes		yes
Maldives	extant	vagrant
Micronesia, Federated States of	extant	native			yes
Myanmar	extant	native	yes	yes	yes
Nepal	extant	native	yes
North Korea	extant	vagrant
Northern Mariana Islands (to USA)	extant	native			yes
Oman	extant	vagrant
Pakistan	extant	native	yes		yes
Palau	extant	native			yes
Papua New Guinea	extant	vagrant
Philippines	extant	native			yes
Russia	extant	vagrant
Russia (Asian)	extant	vagrant
Seychelles	extant	vagrant
Singapore	extant	native	yes
South Korea	extant	native		yes
Sri Lanka	extant	native	yes
Taiwan, China	extant	native			yes
Thailand	extant	native	yes		yes
Timor-Leste	extant	native			yes
United Arab Emirates	extant	vagrant
USA	extant	vagrant
Vietnam	extant	native	yes	yes	yes
Yemen	extant	vagrant

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Cambodia	Veal Srongae
China (mainland)	Wuchishan Dao Nature Reserve
Indonesia	Dataran Banjir Ogan Komering
Philippines	Buguey wetlands
Sri Lanka	Muturajawela
Thailand	Lower Central Basin
Thailand	Sanambin

Habitats & altitude

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Aquatic & Marine	Artificial/Aquatic - Irrigated Land (includes irrigation channels)	suitable	breeding
Artificial/Aquatic & Marine	Artificial/Aquatic - Irrigated Land (includes irrigation channels)	suitable	non-breeding
Artificial/Aquatic & Marine	Artificial/Aquatic - Ponds (below 8ha)	suitable	breeding
Artificial/Aquatic & Marine	Artificial/Aquatic - Ponds (below 8ha)	suitable	non-breeding
Artificial/Aquatic & Marine	Artificial/Aquatic - Seasonally Flooded Agricultural Land	suitable	breeding
Artificial/Aquatic & Marine	Artificial/Aquatic - Seasonally Flooded Agricultural Land	suitable	non-breeding
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Mangrove Vegetation Above High Tide Level	suitable	breeding
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Mangrove Vegetation Above High Tide Level	suitable	non-breeding
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Swamp	suitable	breeding
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Swamp	suitable	non-breeding
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical Seasonally Wet/Flooded	suitable	breeding
Grassland	Subtropical/Tropical Seasonally Wet/Flooded	suitable	non-breeding
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	Coastal Brackish/Saline Lagoons/Marine Lakes	suitable	breeding
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	Coastal Brackish/Saline Lagoons/Marine Lakes	suitable	non-breeding
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	Coastal Freshwater Lakes	suitable	breeding
Marine Coastal/Supratidal	Coastal Freshwater Lakes	suitable	non-breeding
Marine Intertidal	Mud Flats and Salt Flats	suitable	breeding
Marine Intertidal	Mud Flats and Salt Flats	suitable	non-breeding
Marine Intertidal	Salt Marshes (Emergent Grasses)	suitable	breeding
Marine Intertidal	Salt Marshes (Emergent Grasses)	suitable	non-breeding
Marine Neritic	Estuaries	suitable	breeding
Marine Neritic	Estuaries	suitable	non-breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Bogs, Marshes, Swamps, Fens, Peatlands	suitable	breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Bogs, Marshes, Swamps, Fens, Peatlands	suitable	non-breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Freshwater Lakes (over 8ha)	suitable	breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Freshwater Lakes (over 8ha)	suitable	non-breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Inland Deltas	suitable	breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Inland Deltas	suitable	non-breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Rivers/Streams/Creeks (includes waterfalls)	suitable	breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Rivers/Streams/Creeks (includes waterfalls)	suitable	non-breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Saline, Brackish or Alkaline Marshes/Pools	suitable	breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Saline, Brackish or Alkaline Marshes/Pools	suitable	non-breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Seasonal/Intermittent Freshwater Lakes (over 8ha)	suitable	breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Seasonal/Intermittent Freshwater Lakes (over 8ha)	suitable	non-breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Seasonal/Intermittent Freshwater Marshes/Pools (under 8ha)	suitable	breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Seasonal/Intermittent Freshwater Marshes/Pools (under 8ha)	suitable	non-breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Seasonal/Intermittent Saline, Brackish or Alkaline Lakes and Flats	suitable	breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Seasonal/Intermittent Saline, Brackish or Alkaline Lakes and Flats	suitable	non-breeding
Altitude	0 - 1450 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threats & impact

Threat (level 1)

Threat (level 2)

Impact and Stresses

Climate change & severe weather

Habitat shifting & alteration

Timing

Scope

Severity

Impact

Future

Minority (<50%)

Unknown

Stresses
Ecosystem degradation

Human intrusions & disturbance

Recreational activities

Timing

Scope

Severity

Impact

Ongoing

Minority (<50%)

Slow, Significant Declines

Low Impact: 5

Stresses
Species disturbance

Pollution

Domestic & urban waste water - Type Unknown/Unrecorded

Timing

Scope

Severity

Impact

Ongoing

Minority (<50%)

Slow, Significant Declines

Low Impact: 5

Stresses
Species mortality

Pollution

Industrial & military effluents - Seepage from mining

Timing

Scope

Severity

Impact

Ongoing

Minority (<50%)

Slow, Significant Declines

Low Impact: 5

Stresses
Ecosystem degradation

Utilisation

Purpose	Scale
Food - human	subsistence, national
Other household goods	subsistence, national
Pets/display animals, horticulture	subsistence, national

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Intermediate Egret Ardea intermedia. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/intermediate-egret-ardea-intermedia on 04/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 04/12/2024.