{ "model": { "rank": 2977, "code": "thing-q130730", "model_id": "vr.tr.great-egret", "name": "Great Egret", "purpose": "Enable an AI agent to recognise a Great Egret, assess its observed condition and ecological circumstances, and choose evidence-supported observation, protection or referral actions.", "family": "Thing Registry", "category": "Physical world and living systems", "status": "research-draft", "kind": "thing", "plane": "PHY", "domain": "PHY.LIV", "industry": "", "version": "", "url": "/models/thing/q130730/", "tier": 2, "score": 93, "payload": { "layer": "wikidata", "aliases": [], "aliasCount": 0, "merged": 0, "knownIn": 93, "facets": null, "markers": [], "lexicalClass": "", "senseRank": null, "alsoRegisteredAs": null, "source": { "dataset": "wikidata", "item": "Q130730", "url": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q130730", "license": "CC0 1.0" } }, "research": { "vercy": "1.0-draft", "publication": { "status": "research-draft", "adjudicationStatus": "unreviewed", "publishableCanonical": false, "generatedAt": "2026-09-07T14:04:36Z", "providers": [ "Codex", "Grok" ], "missingProviders": [], "pass": 2, "cost": { "grok": { "usd": 0.01196018, "turns": 1, "seconds": 182, "error": null }, "codex": { "seconds": 96.9, "error": "Reading additional input from stdin...\nOpenAI Codex v0.153.3\n--------\nworkdir: R:\\02_PROJECTS\\02_Meta_Models_Platforms\\Ver.cy\\current\\thing-registry-backlog\nmodel: gpt-6-astra\nprovider: openai\napproval: never\nsandbox: read-only\nreasoning effort: none\nreasoning summaries: none\nsession id: 01a07c2a-8dc6-7151-b020-46a18039fd72\n--------\nuser\nYou are drafting a Vercy meta-model for one registered thing. Answer as JSON only, no prose around it.\n\nThing: Great Egret\nRegistry id: vr.tr.great-egret\nPlane / domain: PHY / PHY.LIV\nRegistry definition: (none recorded)\nNames folded into this entry: (none)\n\nA" } } }, "metaModel": { "id": "THING-Q130730", "registryId": "vr.tr.great-egret", "name": "Great Egret", "version": "0.1.0-research.1", "entryKind": "thing", "family": "Thing Registry", "domain": [ "PHY.LIV" ], "status": "research-draft" }, "canonicalUrl": "https://ver.cy/models/thing/q130730/", "model": { "registry_id": "vr.tr.great-egret", "name": "Great Egret", "purpose": "Enable an AI agent to recognise a Great Egret, assess its observed condition and ecological circumstances, and choose evidence-supported observation, protection or referral actions.", "definition": "The Great Egret is a large, nearly cosmopolitan heron (Ardea alba, Ardeidae) whose adults are entirely white, with a long spear-like bill, black legs and feet, a gape line that extends behind the eye, and, in breeding condition, elongated scapular aigrettes; it forages by stand-and-wait or slow wading in shallow fresh, brackish and coastal waters.", "scope_statement": "This model owns the recognition criteria, individual states and ecological relationships of Great Egret under vr.tr.great-egret in PHY / PHY.LIV, provisionally interpreted as Ardea alba; taxonomic interpretations must remain explicit.", "in_scope": [ "Identification evidence and uncertainty against locally plausible white herons and egrets", "Individual life stage, breeding appearance, behaviour and functional condition", "Use of feeding areas, roosts and breeding colonies", "Observed prey capture, movement and reproductive activity", "Disturbance responses, immediate threats and prerequisites for intervention" ], "out_of_scope": [ "Complete models of other egret and heron species", "Wetland hydrology, water chemistry and habitat management systems", "Nest structures as independently managed physical objects", "Prey populations and aquatic food webs as whole systems", "Veterinary diagnosis, treatment protocols and rehabilitation facilities", "Wildlife legislation and conservation programmes as independently maintained authorities" ], "distinguishing_features": [ "Against Snowy Egret in the Americas, test the combination of larger size, yellow bill and entirely dark legs and feet; avoid identification from apparent size alone. [Cornell identification](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/great_egret/id)", "Against Great Blue Heron, test white plumage and a smaller, slender silhouette; a white Great Blue Heron remains a competing identification requiring additional evidence. [Cornell identification](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/great_egret/id)", "Against white storks and spoonbills, test the pointed bill, long S-shaped neck and neck retraction in sustained flight; this establishes a heron-like candidate rather than species identity by itself. [Cornell identification](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/great_egret/id)", "Against other Australian egrets, compare size alongside proportions and seasonal bare-part colours: Great Egret is the largest Australian egret, but its bill can change from yellow to mostly black during breeding. [Australian Museum](https://australian.museum/learn/animals/birds/great-egret/)" ], "characteristics": [ { "name": "Identification support", "kind": "state", "unit_or_values": "confirmed; probable; unresolved white heron; rejected, with supporting observations", "why_it_matters": "Determines whether species-specific conclusions are justified." }, { "name": "Taxonomic interpretation", "kind": "relation", "unit_or_values": "Named taxon linked to an authority and version; regional assignment optional", "why_it_matters": "Keeps differing treatments of regional forms from silently changing the registry concept." }, { "name": "Bill, lores, legs and feet", "kind": "category", "unit_or_values": "Colour of each visible part; obscured; uncertain, with date and locality", "why_it_matters": "Supports recognition while preserving seasonal and regional variation." }, { "name": "Body dimensions", "kind": "measurement", "unit_or_values": "Length and wingspan in cm; mass in g; method and uncertainty required", "why_it_matters": "Supports comparisons without treating photographic impressions as measured size." }, { "name": "Life stage", "kind": "category", "unit_or_values": "Egg; nestling; dependent fledgling; independent immature; adult; unknown", "why_it_matters": "Changes the interpretation of flight ability, dependency and apparent vulnerability." }, { "name": "Breeding evidence", "kind": "state", "unit_or_values": "None observed; display; nest attendance; incubation evidence; chick provisioning; uncertain", "why_it_matters": "Separates reproductive appearance from evidence of an active breeding attempt." }, { "name": "Foraging performance", "kind": "measurement", "unit_or_values": "Strikes per minute and observed successful captures per strike, with observation duration", "why_it_matters": "Allows comparison of feeding performance without equating standing still with failure." }, { "name": "Water depth at feeding position", "kind": "measurement", "unit_or_values": "cm with estimation method; unknown", "why_it_matters": "Connects feeding activity to accessible shallows." }, { "name": "Site relationship", "kind": "relation", "unit_or_values": "Foraging site; roost; breeding colony; transit location, with dated evidence", "why_it_matters": "Distinguishes presence from dependence on a particular site." }, { "name": "Functional condition", "kind": "state", "unit_or_values": "Observed ability to stand, walk, fly, strike and swallow; impaired; unassessed", "why_it_matters": "Supports referral decisions without inventing a diagnosis." }, { "name": "Response to disturbance", "kind": "state", "unit_or_values": "No detected change; vigilance; interrupted feeding; displacement; flushing; unknown", "why_it_matters": "Provides observable grounds to modify or stop an approach." } ], "affordances": [ "Identify or retain an unresolved white-heron observation using photographs, locality and visible diagnostic features.", "Monitor feeding, roosting and nest attendance from an appropriate observation position.", "Link repeated sightings through readable rings or other defensible individual evidence.", "Flag disturbance or habitat changes affecting an observed feeding area, roost or colony.", "Refer an apparently injured or entangled bird to an appropriate wildlife responder with location and behavioural evidence.", "Evaluate prerequisites for capture, marking, sampling or relocation using current local authority and qualified personnel." ] }, "sources": [ { "id": "kushlan-hancock-2005", "title": "The Herons (Bird Families of the World)", "url": "", "what_it_supports": "Family-level diagnosis, subspecies, measurements, foraging and breeding biology of Ardea alba." }, { "id": "hbw-vol1", "title": "Handbook of the Birds of the World, Volume 1: Ostrich to Ducks", "url": "", "what_it_supports": "Species account for Great Egret, including range, subspecies, and field characters used in the definition and neighbours." }, { "id": "birdlife-iucn-ardea-alba", "title": "Ardea alba (Great Egret) - IUCN Red List assessment", "url": "", "what_it_supports": "Global conservation status (Least Concern), BirdLife/IUCN species identifier, and principal threats such as wetland loss and historical plume hunting." }, { "id": "bow-greegr", "title": "Great Egret (Ardea alba) - Birds of the World", "url": "https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/greegr", "what_it_supports": "North American and comparative biometrics, clutch and incubation figures, identification against other white ardeids, and MBTA-era conservation history.", "url_status": "live" }, { "id": "ioc-world-bird-list", "title": "IOC World Bird List", "url": "https://www.worldbirdnames.org/", "what_it_supports": "Current English name Great Egret, binomial Ardea alba, and the optional species split of Eastern Great Egret as Ardea modesta.", "url_status": "live" }, { "id": "linnaeus-1758", "title": "Systema Naturae, 10th edition", "url": "", "what_it_supports": "Original description and still-valid binomial Ardea alba Linnaeus, 1758." } ], "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "great-egret-recognition", "name": "Great Egret Recognition", "description": "Establish whether the observed bird belongs to this registry concept.", "rationale": "White plumage alone cannot distinguish Great Egret from several neighbouring species.", "layers": [ { "id": "white-heron-comparison", "name": "White Heron Comparison", "description": "Compare observable features against alternatives present in the observation region.", "findings": [ { "id": "diagnostic-feature-combination", "name": "Diagnostic Feature Combination", "description": "Require mutually supporting views of proportions, bill, feet and plumage, retaining obscured features as unknown.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which visible features support Great Egret, and which plausible local white herons remain unexcluded?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "diagnostic-feature-combination-q01" }, { "text": "What original photographs, field notes or expert review support the identification?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "diagnostic-feature-combination-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "regional-and-seasonal-appearance", "name": "Regional and Seasonal Appearance", "description": "Interpret appearance using locality, date and a declared taxonomic treatment.", "findings": [ { "id": "bare-part-variation", "name": "Bare Part Variation", "description": "Bill and leg colours vary among regional breeding forms, so a yellow-bill rule cannot apply universally. [Cornell identification](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/great_egret/id)", "questions": [ { "text": "Which regional and breeding-state comparison applies to this bird's bill, lores and legs?", "kind": "definition", "id": "bare-part-variation-q01" }, { "text": "Which taxonomic authority defines the Great Egret concept used for this observation?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "bare-part-variation-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "wading-and-prey-capture", "name": "Wading and Prey Capture", "description": "Describe how this egret obtains food and whether its observed feeding opportunities are usable.", "rationale": "Assessing a feeding bird requires distinguishing normal waiting from impaired hunting or inaccessible prey.", "layers": [ { "id": "feeding-position", "name": "Feeding Position", "description": "Connect the bird's position and movements to the immediate feeding environment.", "findings": [ { "id": "accessible-feeding-water", "name": "Accessible Feeding Water", "description": "Great Egrets commonly hunt in shallow fresh, brackish or marine water using waiting and wading behaviour. [Cornell life history](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/great_egret/lifehistory)", "questions": [ { "text": "What water depth, substrate and vegetation surround the bird's actual feeding position?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "accessible-feeding-water-q01" }, { "text": "Does observed water-level change expose feeding shallows or prevent the bird from using them?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "accessible-feeding-water-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "capture-performance", "name": "Capture Performance", "description": "Separate hunting attempts, captures and ingestion.", "findings": [ { "id": "observed-feeding-success", "name": "Observed Feeding Success", "description": "Record prey evidence and timed attempts without inferring diet or nutritional condition from one encounter.", "questions": [ { "text": "During what observation interval were strikes, captures and successful swallowing actually visible?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "observed-feeding-success-q01" }, { "text": "What evidence identifies the captured prey, and at what taxonomic resolution?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "observed-feeding-success-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "colony-and-reproductive-state", "name": "Colony and Reproductive State", "description": "Represent breeding activity and the bird's relationship to a particular nest and colony.", "rationale": "Colony presence, ornamental plumage and successful reproduction are different states with different action implications.", "layers": [ { "id": "breeding-attribution", "name": "Breeding Attribution", "description": "Distinguish display, roost attendance and occupation of an active nest.", "findings": [ { "id": "active-nest-evidence", "name": "Active Nest Evidence", "description": "Great Egrets nest colonially, including alongside other waterbirds; nest ownership therefore needs direct evidence. [Australian Museum](https://australian.museum/learn/animals/birds/great-egret/)", "questions": [ { "text": "What repeated attendance or reproductive behaviour links this Great Egret to this particular nest?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "active-nest-evidence-q01" }, { "text": "Is the observation evidence of nesting, courtship or only communal roosting?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "active-nest-evidence-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "offspring-development", "name": "Offspring Development", "description": "Track visible offspring and dependency through a breeding attempt.", "findings": [ { "id": "breeding-outcome-confidence", "name": "Breeding Outcome Confidence", "description": "Keep observed eggs, chicks and fledging separate from inferred losses when nest visibility changes.", "questions": [ { "text": "How many eggs or young were visible on each date, and how complete was the view?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "breeding-outcome-confidence-q01" }, { "text": "What evidence distinguishes fledging, temporary concealment and mortality when a chick is no longer seen?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "breeding-outcome-confidence-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "site-use-and-movement", "name": "Site Use and Movement", "description": "Represent visits, recurring site use and supported connections between locations.", "rationale": "A mobile egret's single appearance cannot establish residency, migration or the number of distinct individuals.", "layers": [ { "id": "individual-continuity", "name": "Individual Continuity", "description": "Determine whether successive records can be assigned to the same bird.", "findings": [ { "id": "defensible-reidentification", "name": "Defensible Reidentification", "description": "Use readable marks or documented tracking evidence; leave unmarked sightings unlinked when continuity is uncertain.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which ring inscription, tag or persistent feature supports recognising this individual again?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "defensible-reidentification-q01" }, { "text": "Could these records represent different Great Egrets or a duplicate count?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "defensible-reidentification-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "seasonal-site-role", "name": "Seasonal Site Role", "description": "Interpret recurring use of feeding areas, roosts and colonies through time.", "findings": [ { "id": "site-dependence-evidence", "name": "Site Dependence Evidence", "description": "Record the frequency and purpose of visits while separating missed detection from absence.", "questions": [ { "text": "Across what dates and observation effort has feeding, roosting or breeding use been recorded?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "site-dependence-evidence-q01" }, { "text": "What evidence supports residence, passage or movement between a roost and feeding area?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "site-dependence-evidence-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "condition-and-human-response", "name": "Condition and Human Response", "description": "Connect visible impairment or disturbance to an appropriate next action.", "rationale": "Normal stillness, dependent young and actual injury must lead to different responses around a long-billed wading bird.", "layers": [ { "id": "functional-assessment", "name": "Functional Assessment", "description": "Assess observable movement and feeding function without diagnosing disease.", "findings": [ { "id": "impairment-versus-normal-behaviour", "name": "Impairment Versus Normal Behaviour", "description": "Record asymmetry, visible entanglement and failed movements alongside life stage and observation duration.", "questions": [ { "text": "What directly observed difficulty affects standing, walking, flight, prey capture or swallowing?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "impairment-versus-normal-behaviour-q01" }, { "text": "What evidence warrants wildlife-responder referral rather than continued distant observation?", "kind": "action", "id": "impairment-versus-normal-behaviour-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "disturbance-and-intervention", "name": "Disturbance and Intervention", "description": "Set action boundaries around feeding birds, roosts and active colonies.", "findings": [ { "id": "permissible-next-action", "name": "Permissible Next Action", "description": "Make approach, handling and site-work decisions conditional on observed effects and applicable local requirements.", "questions": [ { "text": "Has observer or equipment proximity interrupted feeding, displaced the bird or altered nest attendance?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "permissible-next-action-q01" }, { "text": "What current authority, qualifications and site-specific restrictions govern the proposed approach, capture or intervention?", "kind": "action", "id": "permissible-next-action-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "evidence-and-external-alignment", "name": "Evidence and external alignment", "description": "What the world already says about this thing, gathered so the model can be checked against it.", "rationale": "A model that cannot be lined up against existing standards, identifiers and practice cannot be adopted by anyone who already uses them.", "layers": [ { "id": "reported-evidence", "name": "Reported evidence", "description": "Findings from the breadth pass, kept separate from the structural claims.", "findings": [ { "id": "evidence-kinds", "name": "Kinds and varieties", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ "Western (nominate) Great Egret, Ardea alba alba - Palearctic", "American Great Egret, Ardea alba egretta", "African Great Egret, Ardea alba melanorhynchos (bill often blackish)", "Eastern Great Egret, Ardea alba modesta, treated by some lists as a separate species Ardea modesta", "Breeding adults with scapular aigrettes and seasonal lores and bill colour", "Non-breeding (basic) plumage adults", "Juveniles, lacking aigrettes and with duller bills" ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-kinds-q01", "text": "Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of Great Egret this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-identifiers", "name": "Identifiers and schemes", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ { "scheme": "binomial nomenclature (ICZN)", "value_or_pattern": "Ardea alba Linnaeus, 1758", "note": "Senior and currently prevailing scientific name; older combinations Egretta alba and Casmerodius albus remain in some legal texts." }, { "scheme": "Wikidata item", "value_or_pattern": "Q26808", "note": "Item for the Great Egret / Ardea alba." }, { "scheme": "eBird / Clements species code", "value_or_pattern": "greegr", "note": "Cornell Lab species code used in eBird and Birds of the World." }, { "scheme": "IUCN / BirdLife species identifier", "value_or_pattern": "22697043", "note": "Shared Red List and Data Zone taxon id for Ardea alba." }, { "scheme": "AOS / USGS bird banding alpha code", "value_or_pattern": "GREG", "note": "Four-letter North American banding and checklist code." }, { "scheme": "ITIS taxonomic serial number", "value_or_pattern": "174803", "note": "ITIS TSN for Ardea alba." } ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-identifiers-q01", "text": "Which of these identifiers and schemes hold for the sense of Great Egret this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-standards-and-regulation", "name": "Standards and regulation", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ "IUCN Red List of Threatened Species - BirdLife International assessment of Ardea alba (Least Concern).", "EU Birds Directive 2009/147/EC, Annex I - listed as Egretta alba; special conservation measures for habitat.", "Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA), under the Convention on Migratory Species (UNEP/CMS).", "United States Migratory Bird Treaty Act - USFWS; take, possession and trade of the bird, parts and plumes are prohibited except under permit.", "New Zealand Wildlife Act 1953 - Eastern Great Egret (kōtuku) is absolutely protected." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-standards-and-regulation-q01", "text": "Which of these standards and regulation hold for the sense of Great Egret this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-real-world-use", "name": "Real-world use", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ "Wetland and rice-field forager, used by observers as a conspicuous indicator of shallow-water feeding habitat.", "Colonial nester in mixed heronries; colony counts are a standard waterbird monitoring method.", "Birdwatching and wetland tourism target; in New Zealand the Eastern form (kōtuku) is a rare, culturally marked bird.", "Historical millinery trade in breeding aigrettes drove late-19th/early-20th-century protection campaigns and remains the emblematic bird of the National Audubon Society.", "Subject of ringing/banding, eBird and atlas schemes used to track the species' recent range expansion in Europe." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-real-world-use-q01", "text": "Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of Great Egret this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-measurements", "name": "Typical measurements", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ { "quantity": "body length", "typical_range": "80-104", "unit": "cm" }, { "quantity": "wingspan", "typical_range": "131-170", "unit": "cm" }, { "quantity": "body mass", "typical_range": "700-1500", "unit": "g" }, { "quantity": "exposed culmen", "typical_range": "90-130", "unit": "mm" }, { "quantity": "clutch size", "typical_range": "3-5 (rarely 2-6)", "unit": "eggs" }, { "quantity": "incubation period", "typical_range": "23-27", "unit": "days" } ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-measurements-q01", "text": "Which of these typical measurements hold for the sense of Great Egret this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-failure-modes-and-hazards", "name": "Failure modes and hazards", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ "Wetland drainage, water-level mismanagement and loss of protected nesting trees collapse local breeding colonies.", "Human disturbance at heronries causes nest abandonment and chick mortality.", "Historical plume hunting reduced many populations to remnants; illegal take of aigrettes can still occur.", "Persistent contaminants (historically DDE; still mercury and agricultural pesticides) impair reproduction.", "Collision with power lines, fences and wind turbines, especially on commuting flights between colonies and feeding sites.", "Miscounts in waterbird surveys when observers lump or split white egrets, biasing trend estimates." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-failure-modes-and-hazards-q01", "text": "Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of Great Egret this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-regional-variation", "name": "Regional variation", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ "English name is Great Egret in IOC, Clements/eBird and AOS lists, but Great White Egret on many European and British lists (BOU).", "In Florida, 'Great White Heron' names the white morph of Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias occidentalis), not this species.", "IOC and several Australasian lists treat the Eastern form as a full species Ardea modesta; Clements/eBird keep it as A. a. modesta.", "New Zealand English and Māori usage centres on kōtuku for the scarce Eastern Great Egret.", "African A. a. melanorhynchos more often shows a dark bill; Palearctic and American birds are yellow-billed except in some breeding colour changes.", "The species has expanded strongly as a breeder in western and northern Europe since the late 20th century, so local status texts go out of date quickly." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-regional-variation-q01", "text": "Which of these regional variation hold for the sense of Great Egret this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-neighbours", "name": "Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ { "name": "Intermediate (Median / Yellow-billed) Egret, Ardea intermedia", "difference": "Smaller, with a shorter, thicker neck; the gape line ends under the eye, whereas in Great Egret it extends behind the eye." }, { "name": "Little Egret, Egretta garzetta", "difference": "Much smaller, with a slender black bill, black legs and yellow feet; breeding birds have two head plumes, not long scapular aigrettes." }, { "name": "Snowy Egret, Egretta thula", "difference": "Smaller, black bill, bright yellow lores and yellow feet ('golden slippers'); Great Egret has a yellow bill and black feet." }, { "name": "Cattle Egret, Bubulcus ibis", "difference": "Short-necked and stocky, usually in dry fields with livestock; breeding birds show orange-buff on crown, breast and back." }, { "name": "Great White Heron (white morph of Great Blue Heron, Ardea herodias occidentalis)", "difference": "Heavier bill and pale yellowish legs; essentially confined to marine Florida Bay and the Keys, unlike the black-legged Great Egret." }, { "name": "Juvenile Little Blue Heron, Egretta caerulea", "difference": "All-white but smaller, with a two-toned bill (dark tip, pale base) and greenish legs, not a long yellow bill and black legs." }, { "name": "White morph Reddish Egret, Egretta rufescens", "difference": "Pink bill with a sharply black tip, blue-grey legs, and distinctive dash-and-lunge foraging, usually on open salt flats." } ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-neighbours-q01", "text": "Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of Great Egret this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] } ] } ] } ] }, "openQuestions": [ "Which taxonomic authority and version should define the registry boundary, particularly for treatments separating Eastern Great Egret?", "Which region-specific diagnostic combinations reliably distinguish Great Egret from intermediate-sized egrets, white Great Blue Herons and immature white herons?", "How should conflicting regional descriptions of body size, nest reuse and offspring development be reconciled before establishing reference expectations?", "Which validated field criteria distinguish poor condition from normal waiting, resting or fledgling dependency without handling?", "Which local disturbance limits, colony-location disclosure rules and intervention requirements apply in each deployment jurisdiction?" ], "statistics": { "bundles": 6, "layers": 11, "findings": 18, "questions": 28 } }, "draft": { "generator": "vr.draft.v3", "status": "draft-generated", "researched": false, "archetype": "organism", "method": "Written from the archetype playbook - what this kind of thing needs beyond identity and provenance - and from the structure that recurred across 6,333 models already researched by two engines. Applied to this entry by rule. No source was read for this thing and no claim here is researched. This entry carries no facets of its own, so they were inferred from its domain - a guess about a whole domain applied to one thing.", "facetsInferred": true, "nextPass": "A researcher replaces this draft with a sourced specification. Treat every sentence below as a proposal to argue with.", "purpose": "Give an agent a durable, checkable way to recognise a Great Egret, record what state it is in, and decide what may be done with it.", "whatItIs": "Enable an AI agent to recognise a Great Egret, assess its observed condition and ecological circumstances, and choose evidence-supported observation, protection or referral actions.", "characteristics": { "substance": "living", "origin": "natural", "agency": "autonomous", "mobility": "self-moving" }, "whatYouCanDoWithIt": [ "observed and measured" ], "distinguishingFeatures": [ "Described in 93 Wikipedia languages, which is a measure of how widely the thing is known, not of how important it is." ], "openQuestionsForResearch": [ "Which of the bundles below does a real task actually need, and which are ceremony?", "What does this thing have that the facets do not capture at all?", "Which neighbouring kind is most often confused with a Great Egret, and on what evidence are they told apart?" ], "whatItIsMadeOf": "a living thing", "physicalCharacter": [ "Moves under its own power or of its own accord.", "Acts on its own behalf.", "These come from the domain this entry sits in rather than from the entry itself, so treat them as a first guess about the whole domain applied to one thing." ], "whatCanBeDoneWithIt": [ "observe it, measure it, record its state" ], "howItIsRecognised": [ "Recognised by diagnostic characters, and those differ by life stage - the young of many kinds are mistaken for other kinds entirely. A sighting is settled by characters, a photograph and a place, not by a name alone." ], "relatedModels": [], "standing": "Described in 93 Wikipedia languages, which measures how widely it is written about rather than how important or how common it is.", "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "identity-and-classification", "name": "Identity, naming and classification", "description": "How an agent tells one Great Egret from another, and a Great Egret from things that resemble it.", "rationale": "Recognition comes before every other claim. Without stable identity nothing else in the model can be trusted to be about the same thing twice.", "layers": [ { "id": "naming-and-identifiers", "name": "Names and identifiers", "description": "The names this thing goes by and the identifiers that survive translation and time.", "findings": [ { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases", "name": "Preferred name, aliases and local names", "description": "Which name to use, which names mean the same thing, and which merely sound similar.", "questions": [ { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the name of a Great Egret, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the name of a Great Egret, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the name of a Great Egret is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers", "name": "Stable identifiers and external keys", "description": "Identifiers that keep pointing at this kind of thing across systems and languages.", "questions": [ { "id": "stable-identifiers-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes an identifier for a Great Egret, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about an identifier for a Great Egret, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once an identifier for a Great Egret is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "classification-and-granularity", "name": "Classification and granularity", "description": "Where a Great Egret sits among kinds, and how finely a task needs to cut it.", "findings": [ { "id": "kind-and-parents", "name": "Kind, parents and neighbouring kinds", "description": "The classes this thing belongs to and the ones it is next to.", "questions": [ { "id": "kind-and-parents-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the kind of a Great Egret, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "kind-and-parents-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the kind of a Great Egret, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "kind-and-parents-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the kind of a Great Egret is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features", "name": "Distinguishing features", "description": "What separates a Great Egret from the things most often confused with it.", "questions": [ { "id": "distinguishing-features-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes what distinguishes a Great Egret, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about what distinguishes a Great Egret, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once what distinguishes a Great Egret is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "form-and-composition", "name": "Form, composition and condition", "description": "What a Great Egret is made of, what shape and size it takes, and what state it is in.", "rationale": "A physical thing can be measured, and a model that cannot record its measurements cannot support any decision that depends on them.", "layers": [ { "id": "form-and-dimensions", "name": "Form and dimensions", "description": "Shape, size, mass and the ranges these take across examples.", "findings": [ { "id": "measurable-dimensions", "name": "Measurable dimensions and their units", "description": "The quantities worth recording and the units they are recorded in.", "questions": [ { "id": "measurable-dimensions-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the dimensions of a Great Egret, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "measurable-dimensions-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the dimensions of a Great Egret, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "measurable-dimensions-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the dimensions of a Great Egret is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "material-and-composition", "name": "Material and composition", "description": "Anatomy, parts and life stage.", "findings": [ { "id": "parts-and-materials", "name": "Parts and life stages", "description": "The parts of a Great Egret and the stages it passes through.", "questions": [ { "id": "parts-and-materials-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the composition of a Great Egret, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "parts-and-materials-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the composition of a Great Egret, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "parts-and-materials-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the composition of a Great Egret is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "condition-and-integrity", "name": "Condition and integrity", "description": "Wear, damage, health and the difference between working and broken.", "findings": [ { "id": "condition-assessment", "name": "Condition, damage and health", "description": "How the condition of a Great Egret is judged and by whom.", "questions": [ { "id": "condition-assessment-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the condition of a Great Egret, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "condition-assessment-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the condition of a Great Egret, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "condition-assessment-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the condition of a Great Egret is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "place-and-movement", "name": "Place and movement", "description": "Where a Great Egret is, how it got there and where it may go (self-moving).", "rationale": "A thing that can move needs its position recorded with a time, or every later claim about it is about a place it has left.", "layers": [ { "id": "location-and-placement", "name": "Location and placement", "description": "Position, containment and the reference frame the position is given in.", "findings": [ { "id": "position-and-frame", "name": "Position, container and reference frame", "description": "Where a Great Egret is, and what that position is measured against.", "questions": [ { "id": "position-and-frame-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the location of a Great Egret, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "position-and-frame-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the location of a Great Egret, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "position-and-frame-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the location of a Great Egret is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "movement-and-transfer", "name": "Movement and transfer", "description": "How a Great Egret moves on its own.", "findings": [ { "id": "movement-events", "name": "Movement events and constraints", "description": "What counts as a movement, what records it and what limits it.", "questions": [ { "id": "movement-events-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the movement of a Great Egret, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "movement-events-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the movement of a Great Egret, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "movement-events-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the movement of a Great Egret is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "state-and-lifecycle", "name": "State and lifecycle", "description": "The states a Great Egret passes through and the events that move it between them.", "rationale": "Most decisions about a thing depend on what state it is in now, which is a claim with a time on it, not a property.", "layers": [ { "id": "lifecycle-stages", "name": "Lifecycle stages", "description": "From coming into existence to ceasing to be one of these.", "findings": [ { "id": "stages-and-transitions", "name": "Stages and transitions", "description": "The stages worth naming and what moves a Great Egret between them.", "questions": [ { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the lifecycle of a Great Egret, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the lifecycle of a Great Egret, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the lifecycle of a Great Egret is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "observations-and-status", "name": "Observations and current status", "description": "What is observed about a Great Egret, how often and by whom.", "findings": [ { "id": "observation-record", "name": "Observation record", "description": "How an observation of a Great Egret is recorded so that it can be superseded rather than overwritten.", "questions": [ { "id": "observation-record-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes an observation of a Great Egret, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "observation-record-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about an observation of a Great Egret, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "observation-record-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once an observation of a Great Egret is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "taxonomic-placement", "name": "Taxonomic placement and identification", "description": "What Great Egret is called scientifically, by whose authority, and how a specimen is recognised.", "rationale": "Names change with revisions while the organism does not, so a name without its authority and date cannot be reconciled later.", "layers": [ { "id": "accepted-name", "name": "Accepted name and synonymy", "description": "The current binomial, its author and date, and the names it replaced.", "findings": [ { "id": "name-and-authority", "name": "Accepted name, authority and synonyms", "description": "What to record so a later revision can be applied without losing the old data.", "questions": [ { "id": "name-and-authority-q01", "text": "What is the accepted scientific name of Great Egret, with its author and year, and which synonyms does it absorb?", "kind": "definition" }, { "id": "name-and-authority-q02", "text": "Which taxonomic authority is being followed, and what would a competing authority say?", "kind": "provenance" } ] } ] }, { "id": "field-identification", "name": "Field identification", "description": "The characters that separate Great Egret from what it is confused with.", "findings": [ { "id": "diagnostic-characters", "name": "Diagnostic characters and confusable kinds", "description": "Features that settle an identification, and those that only suggest it.", "questions": [ { "id": "diagnostic-characters-q01", "text": "Which observable characters distinguish Great Egret from its closest look-alikes, and at which life stage are they visible?", "kind": "boundary" }, { "id": "diagnostic-characters-q02", "text": "What evidence is enough to record an identification as confirmed rather than provisional?", "kind": "provenance" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "life-cycle-and-condition", "name": "Life stages, condition and behaviour", "description": "What Great Egret does over its life and how its state is judged.", "rationale": "Stage and condition change what may be done - handled, treated, harvested, left alone - and both are observations with a time.", "layers": [ { "id": "stages-and-reproduction", "name": "Stages and reproduction", "description": "Development from origin to death, including forms that look like different animals.", "findings": [ { "id": "life-stages", "name": "Life stages and their marks", "description": "The stages worth recording and what tells them apart.", "questions": [ { "id": "life-stages-q01", "text": "What stages does Great Egret pass through, and what observable change marks each transition?", "kind": "definition" }, { "id": "life-stages-q02", "text": "Which stages are so unlike the adult that they are mistaken for another kind?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] }, { "id": "health-and-condition", "name": "Health and condition", "description": "How condition is assessed and by whom.", "findings": [ { "id": "condition-assessment", "name": "Condition assessment", "description": "Signs of health, injury and stress, and who is competent to judge them.", "questions": [ { "id": "condition-assessment-q01", "text": "How is the condition of Great Egret judged, on what scale, and by whom?", "kind": "measurement" }, { "id": "condition-assessment-q02", "text": "What condition obliges an agent to act, and what act is permitted to whom?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "range-and-status", "name": "Habitat, range and conservation status", "description": "Where Great Egret lives and how threatened it is.", "rationale": "Range and status govern what is lawful, and both are assessments with an assessor and a year rather than facts of nature.", "layers": [ { "id": "habitat-and-range", "name": "Habitat and range", "description": "Native range, introductions and the habitat it needs.", "findings": [ { "id": "range-record", "name": "Range, introductions and habitat", "description": "What to record about where it is found and how it got there.", "questions": [ { "id": "range-record-q01", "text": "What is the native range of Great Egret, where has it been introduced, and what habitat does it require?", "kind": "definition" }, { "id": "range-record-q02", "text": "What distinguishes a native record from an introduced or vagrant one?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] }, { "id": "protection-status", "name": "Protection and legal status", "description": "Conservation assessments and the rules that follow from them.", "findings": [ { "id": "status-and-rules", "name": "Conservation status and legal consequence", "description": "The assessment, its date, and what it forbids or requires where.", "questions": [ { "id": "status-and-rules-q01", "text": "What conservation status does Great Egret hold, under which assessment and year?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "id": "status-and-rules-q02", "text": "What does that status forbid or require of an agent, and in which jurisdiction?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "provenance-and-evidence", "name": "Provenance, evidence and time", "description": "Where every claim about a Great Egret came from and when it held.", "rationale": "A claim without a source and a time cannot be superseded, only overwritten, and an agent that overwrites loses the ability to explain itself.", "layers": [ { "id": "source-and-authority", "name": "Source and authority", "description": "Who said it, on what evidence, and how strongly.", "findings": [ { "id": "claim-provenance", "name": "Claim provenance and confidence", "description": "The authority behind each claim about a Great Egret and how confident it is.", "questions": [ { "id": "claim-provenance-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes a claim about a Great Egret, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "claim-provenance-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about a claim about a Great Egret, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "claim-provenance-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once a claim about a Great Egret is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "time-and-versions", "name": "Time, versions and supersession", "description": "When a claim was true, when it was learnt, and what replaced it.", "findings": [ { "id": "validity-and-supersession", "name": "Validity period and supersession", "description": "How an old claim about a Great Egret is retired without being erased.", "questions": [ { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the validity of a claim about a Great Egret, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the validity of a claim about a Great Egret, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the validity of a claim about a Great Egret is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] } ] }, "statistics": { "bundles": 8, "layers": 17, "findings": 19, "questions": 51 } } } }