Birds and Nature

I can only think that this White-faced Ibis was trying to either dry off it's wings or engage in 'sunning' behavior as it lifted it's wing and spread it for a view of the underwing plumage not often seen. This bird's head feathers are standing out as though wet so it may have done some bathing in the water standing in the field. I did no editing other than to crop this pic either so the greenish tinge to the top part of the underwing is how these feathers appeared. SeEtta

href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIYuzRGEbyCDbtD7tvBuxBvcgTPIbNmaUkmyHEyTFctMWYnnq2w3rL41_FmZFJYI8JY-zDJbLu0QfgLkEQRP_ozNQRPEHmTQBluMq5c0qR1Mi_PFw0t0NxEg8VlSgAabEaUjFOjDCMASI/s1600/IbisFlock-Florence.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> Pic at top shows several hundred Plegadis ibis as they fed in ag field. The video clip shows 200+ Plegadis ibis flying from one side of the field to the other where more ibis are feeding. The video is best seen in full screen view (click on the 4 arrows in lower right corner of screen) I have now gone through all the pics of ibis that I posted as Glossies. The 3 birds I identified as Glossy Ibis below (in post labeled 'Better pics of Glossy Ibis' and 'Two Glossy Ibises feeding near each other) all have blue facial lines that do not invade behind the eye. I believe that at least these 3 birds in the flocks I saw are Glossy Ibises though there ...

How to help frogs:   Don’t use pesticides.......Don’t eat frog legs......Don’t purchase wild-caught amphibians as pets......Slow down driving on wet nights......Do not stock non-native sh in your pond or stream.......Do not purchase bottled water......Turn off the tap-Conserve resources....Reduce, Re-use, Recycle......Use rechargeable batteries.......Vote for the environment......Become a herpetologist......Go vegetarian......Eat locally grown, organic food......Donate to SAVE THE FROGS!......Wear a SAVE THE FROGS! t-shirt 

Amphibians are without a doubt the most endangered group of animals on the planet: nearly 1/3 of the world's 6,485 species are on the brink of extinction. There are six major factors negatively affecting amphibians, and all are due to human activity: habitat destruction, infectious diseases, pollution & pesticides, climate change, invasive species, and over-harvesting for the pet and food trades. SaveTheFrogs

Though it is difficult to be sure that the Glossy Ibises I have photographed are all different birds it is clear that there are for sure at least 2 different Glossies as both are foraging in this pic. SeEtta

Post note: after posting this and sending a message to the cobirds listserve, I took some time to really check out the photos at big enlargement--I now see that there is a sliver of facial skin (looks bluish but hard to tell as it's so thin and doesn't matter) that goes behind the eye--this is not found on Glossies so this is apparently a hybrid. These two pics are of the same bird but I think a third Glossy Ibis feeding in the agricultural fields in Florence today. I can't be sure but I believe this is a different Glossy from the others in pics below, part of at least 4 different Glossies in this very large flock of Plegadis ibis. Seetta

Post note: after uploading these and sending a message to cobirds listserve, I took some time to enlarge the photos further. When I did it was clear that there is facial skin behind this ibis' eye. Per Birds of North America online, Glossy Ibis have "a distinctive edging of pale-blue skin above and below but not continuing around eye,". So this is clearly a hybrid bird. This Glossy Ibis has a very large worm in it's bill--one of the yummy invertebrates that these birds forage for in these flooded fields. This is the only pic of ibis that I have edited (other than cropping) and I did so in order to make the worm more visible. SeEtta