Chinese Egret

The Chinese egret, or Swinhoe's egret, is a threatened egret of east Asia, first described by Robert Swinhoe in 1860. It averages 68 cm in height, and the plumage is white throughout its life and looks like the little egret's. Outside the breeding season the bill is dusky with a tannish peach base, the lores and legs are yellow-green and the iris yellow. In the breeding season adults grow a luxuriant crest sometimes over 11 cm long, and long lanceolate plumes on the breast and back extending beyond the tail (Wikipedia, general species account).

It breeds on small islands off the coasts of far eastern Russia, North Korea, South Korea and mainland China, and all recent breeding records are from offshore islands (Wikipedia, general species account).