Country Oaks Elementary School students make their pitch to make the Cattle Egret the official bird of LaBelle. [Photo courtesy LaBelle Commissioner Hugo Vargas]

LABELLE- Students from Country Oaks Elementary School were in attendance at the May 14 LaBelle City Commission meeting to make their case for which bird should be selected to represent the city.

Students took turns, showing off artwork and giving short presentations on why they thought the city should select their bird. Students made their case for birds such as the Anhinga or Snake Bird, the Black Vulture, and the Red Shouldered Hawk.

Ultimately, LaBelle Commissioners selected the Cattle Egret, or Cow Bird, as the Official Bird of LaBelle.

The Cow Bird first made its way to the United States by 1941. Cattle egrets first appeared in Hendry County in the early 1940s and were discovered nesting near Lake Okeechobee in 1953. Since then, they've spread throughout Florida.

The bird gets its name from its habit of hitchhiking on the backs of animals. As a cow or a horse moves about, it stirs up bugs, which the cattle egret eats.

Cattle egrets are popular birds with cattle ranchers for their perceived role as a biocontrol of cattle parasites such as ticks and flies. A study in Australia found that cattle egrets reduced the number of flies that bothered cattle by pecking them directly off the skin.