The intermediate egret, median egret, smaller egret, or yellow-billed egret (Ardea intermedia) is a medium-sized heron. Some taxonomists put the species in the genus Egretta or Mesophoyx. It is a resident breeder from east Africa across the Indian subcontinent to Southeast Asia and Australia
There are three recognised subspecies,[2][1] and these are sometimes raised in to species:[3]
A. i. brachyrhyncha Brehm, 1854 "yellow-billed egret" - sub-Saharan Africa
A.i. intermedia Wagler, 1827 "intermediate egret" - Asia from the Russian Far East to Japan to India and the Greater Sundas
. A further difference between the nominate subspecies and the "yellow-billed" subspecies are that the "intermediate" subspecies has black at the top of the legs compared to reddish in the yellow-billed egret.[3]
