Energy Metabolism of the Cattle Egret

Abstract

This paper reports part of a fairly comprehensive study designed to investigate the food and feeding ecology of the Cattle Egret Ardeola ibis in the south-western Cape. Some of the findings are preliminary, insofar as most of the data have been derived from a series of relatively crude tests because it was first necessary to investigate the suitability of the bird as an experimental animal and to develop and adapt techniques accordingly.