He stated: Bitterns or Great Egrets, large as capons, but very fat and good.

They have grey plumage, each feather spotted with white, the neck and beak like a Heron, and the feet green, made like the feet of Poullets d'Inde (Porphyrio, W.R.).

[2]When subfossil bones were finally recovered in the late 20th century, they were initially described under a new name as the original description was believed to be invalid.

Of all the reports mentioning herons on Réunion, only the one of Dubois can be assigned to this species.

However, as there are no good reasons for its disappearance (neither habitat destruction nor introduced predators would have affected it much, nor does it seem to have been a favourite target for hunters), it might have persisted until considerably later.