The eastern cattle egret (Ardea coromanda) is a species of heron (family Ardeidae) found in the tropics, subtropics and warm temperate zones.

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.

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 positioning of the egret's eyes allows for binocular vision during feeding, and physiological studies suggest that the species may be capable of crepuscular or nocturnal activity.

Adapted to foraging on land, they have lost the ability possessed by their wetland relatives to accurately correct for light refraction by water.

This species gives a quiet, throaty rick-rack call at the breeding colony, but is otherwise largely silent.

The expansion of the eastern cattle egret's range is due to its relationship with humans and their domesticated animals.

Originally adapted to a commensal relationship with large grazing and browsing animals, it was easily able to switch to domesticated cattle and horses.

Many populations of cattle egrets are highly migratory and dispersive, and this has helped the species' range expansion.

Although the cattle egret sometimes feeds in shallow water, unlike most herons it is typically found in fields and dry grassy habitats, reflecting its greater dietary reliance on terrestrial insects rather than aquatic prey.

The colonies are usually found in woodlands near lakes or rivers, in swamps, or on small inland or coastal islands, and are sometimes shared with other wetland birds, such as herons, egrets, ibises and cormorants.

The male displays in a tree in the colony, using a range of ritualised behaviours such as shaking a twig and sky-pointing (raising his bill vertically upwards), and the pair forms over three or four days.

The cattle egret feeds on a wide range of prey, particularly insects, especially grasshoppers, crickets, flies (adults and maggots), and moths, as well as spiders, frogs, and earthworms.

The species is usually found with cattle and other large grazing and browsing animals, and catches small creatures disturbed by the mammals.