Glossy Ibis

 

The Glossy Ibis is a large, long-legged wading bird with a football shaped body and a long-curved bill.

We have observed Glossy Ibis in nesting colonies while birding in Florida and they are quite common. However, they are uncommon in Southern Ontario with few recorded sightings in Lambton County.

Recently while birding at Kettle Point, I received word that a small flock of Ibis was flying south past Grand Bend. A friend who was birding in The Pinery then seen them pass the beaches there. I seriously didn’t think I had a chance to see them but knew from taking the sailboat to the North Channel that I had to get around the north side of Kettle Point to Ipperwash Beach. After about a fifteen-minute wait on the beach, I was able to just make out the flock way out in the lake. Not the experience I was hoping for but a sighting none the less.

The scientific name derives from Ancient Greek plegados and Latin, falcis, both meaning “sickle” and referring to the distinctive shape of the bill.

Glossy Ibises occur in flocks, both at nesting colonies and when foraging. They typically feed by lowering the bill into water, mud, or soil, to feel for prey, and they often feed among many other species of wading birds.

Glossy Ibises frequent almost any wetland environment with shallow water or exposed mud and also readily feeds in farm fields or open areas where soils are moist. Cornell All About Birds

We have seen Glossy, White-faced, Scarlet, White, Hadada and Sacred Ibis. Hopefully all future blog topics.