There have been pictures of at least 2 dark ibis pictures posted of birds
at Lafitte's. One and the oldest I saw looked like a glossy. If I saw this
bird I would say white-faced. There is lots of variation especially in the
white-faced birds, possibly age related. Some second year birds do no get
full breeding plumage perhaps due to the fact they are not breeding.
Anahuac dark ibis are deep in the nesting cycle now so lone isolated birds
could well be non-breeders and thus not showing the red face and knees.
Like a spoonbill I had last week that had the pink of a breeder but none of
the other color patches.
Back in the 1960's in Louisiana, white faced ibis were found in southwest
LA and glossy ibis in southeast LA near the mouth of the river but small
numbers of white-faced also showed up in the southeast. The glossies were
along the narrow road near venice after nesting so they were not commonly
seen in breeding plumage. The glossies started spreading in LA about the
same time they were showing up in Texas.
Not sure if hybrid works as it seems that glossy genes would be quickly
swamped in an area with really lots of white-faced. Such a hypothesis would
require glossies to prefer white-faced mates and there always be new
glossies migrating to the coast. Both species are becoming regular in Iowa
but they are segregated when numbers seen and not in mixed flocks.
The first bird I photographed with a digital camera was a glossy ibis at
shoveler pond that had been pooped on its head by other ibis. I have found
a lot fewer birds despite searching since 1994 than others report as many
"glossy" type birds seem to be within the normal range of white-faced I
learned in LA but of course that could be wrong and I am missing lots of
glossy ibis.
I have found that glossy ibis seem to not hang closely with white-faces but
when large numbers of dark ibis are at Anahuac, the glossy may be by
itself. And glossy might have duller reddish highlights in the body plumage
and seem a little greener. But the pair of species are like willow and
alder flycatchers with some birds impossible to tell.
On Mon, May 8, 2017 at 6:48 AM, Dennis Shepler <dawgler@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Howdy Texbirders,
Glad the photo issues regarding the Plegadis Ibis at Lafitte's Cove have
been discussed and "resolved". Based on my observations and photos, I
believed that the bird in question is a hybrid Glossy/White-faced Ibis. I
wrote the following of the Real Texbird facebook site:
"After hearing of the sighting of a Glossy Ibis at Lafitte's Cove, I went
down this morning to search for the Glossy. The only dark (Pelagadis spp.)
ibis I found that might fit the description of a Glossy Ibis is shown in
the following pictures. I think this bird is a hybrid Glossy/White-faced. I
would appreciate comments from the community. The bird pictured has what
appears to be a "reddish" (not dark) iris, more gray than brown in the bill
and reddish in the area of the tibiotarsus-tarsometatarsus joint (the
"ankle"). Light plays an important role in these photos and others may have
photos of the "Glossy" seen that indicate that there was a pure Glossy Ibis
present at Lafitte's. Glossy Ibis is a rare bird on the Texas coast and is
known to hybridize with White-faced Ibis. Thanks for your comments
regarding the bird pictured here."
Here is a link to photos that show, I think, the field marks referenced in
my statement:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/olddawgler/33687363244/in/dateposted-family/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/olddawgler/34400133061/in/dateposted-family/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/olddawgler/33687364574/in/dateposted-family/
Comments welcome and you all have my permission to use the photos.
Dennis
West Houston
Harris County
--
W. Dennis Shepler
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