The cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis) is a cosmopolitan species of heron (family Ardeidae) found in the tropics, subtropics, and warm-temperate zones. It is the only member of the monotypic genus Bubulcus, although some authorities regard its two subspecies as full species, the western cattle egret and the eastern cattle egret. Despite the similarities in plumage to the egrets of the genus Egretta, it is more closely related to the herons of Ardea. Originally native to parts of Asia, Africa, and Europe, it has undergone a rapid expansion in its distribution and successfully colonised much of the rest of the world in the last century. It is a white bird adorned with buff plumes in the breeding season. It nests in colonies, usually near bodies of water and often with other wading birds. The nest is a platform of sticks in trees or shrubs. Cattle egrets exploit drier and open habitats more than other heron species. Their feeding habitats include seasonally inundated grasslands, pastures, farmlands, wetlands, and rice paddies. They often accompany cattle or other large mammals, catching insect and small vertebrate prey disturbed by these animals. Some populations are migratory and others show postbreeding dispersal. The adult cattle egret has few predators, but birds or mammals may raid its nests, and chicks may be lost to starvation, calcium deficiency, or disturbance from other large birds. This species maintains a special relationship with cattle, which extends to other large grazing mammals; wider human farming is believed to be a major cause of their suddenly expanded range. The cattle egret removes ticks and flies from cattle and consumes them. This benefits both species, but it has been implicated in the spread of tick-borne animal diseases. Taxonomy The cattle egret was first described in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus in his Systema Naturae as Ardea ibis, but was moved to its current genus by Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1855. Its generic name Bubulcus is Latin for herdsman, referring, like the English name, to this species' association with cattle. Ibis is a Latin and Greek word which originally referred to another white wading bird, the sacred ibis, but was applied to this species in error. The cattle egret has two geographical races, which are sometimes classified as full species, the western cattle egret, B. ibis, and eastern cattle egret, B. coromandus. The two forms were split by McAllan and Bruce, but were regarded as conspecific