Avery Island Ibis
We have spotted 3 species of Ibis on Avery Island. Cornell All About Birds has this to say:
WHITE IBIS: "As adults, these striking wading birds are all white save for their black wingtips, but watch out for young birds that are brown above and white below. The mascot of the University of Miami in Florida is a White Ibis, affectionately called Sebastian the Ibis. Legend has it that they choose the White Ibis for their heroic ability to withstand hurricanes, which is the name of the university’s football team.
WHITE-FACED IBIS: "The handsome White-faced Ibis shimmers with purple, green, and bronze plumage. Breeding adults add to this a ruby-red eye surrounded by a sharp white mask, and pink legs. White-faced and Glossy Ibises are similar species: both dark purple-metallic and both members of the genus Plegadis. Both species have expanded their breeding ranges in North America over recent decades. This has led to Glossy Ibis turning up in White-faced Ibis colonies, and vice-versa, and to many instances of hybridization, making it even more complicated to tell the two species apart definitively."
GLOSSY IBIS: "At distance, Glossy Ibises look uniformly dark, but a close look in good light reveals stunning colors: deep maroon, emerald, bronze, and violet. This long-legged, long-billed bird forages in flocks through wetlands and wet agricultural fields, searching for insects, small fish, and seeds. The birds are somewhat nomadic, dispersing widely after the nesting season—a tendency that has aided the species in the past 100 years as it has expanded its range from the southeastern U.S. to include much of eastern North America."
Read MoreWHITE IBIS: "As adults, these striking wading birds are all white save for their black wingtips, but watch out for young birds that are brown above and white below. The mascot of the University of Miami in Florida is a White Ibis, affectionately called Sebastian the Ibis. Legend has it that they choose the White Ibis for their heroic ability to withstand hurricanes, which is the name of the university’s football team.
WHITE-FACED IBIS: "The handsome White-faced Ibis shimmers with purple, green, and bronze plumage. Breeding adults add to this a ruby-red eye surrounded by a sharp white mask, and pink legs. White-faced and Glossy Ibises are similar species: both dark purple-metallic and both members of the genus Plegadis. Both species have expanded their breeding ranges in North America over recent decades. This has led to Glossy Ibis turning up in White-faced Ibis colonies, and vice-versa, and to many instances of hybridization, making it even more complicated to tell the two species apart definitively."
GLOSSY IBIS: "At distance, Glossy Ibises look uniformly dark, but a close look in good light reveals stunning colors: deep maroon, emerald, bronze, and violet. This long-legged, long-billed bird forages in flocks through wetlands and wet agricultural fields, searching for insects, small fish, and seeds. The birds are somewhat nomadic, dispersing widely after the nesting season—a tendency that has aided the species in the past 100 years as it has expanded its range from the southeastern U.S. to include much of eastern North America."
