View allAll Photos Tagged GLOSSY
Salt Range, Pakistan
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This species is a mid-sized ibis. It is 48–66 cm (19–26 in) long, averaging around 59.4 cm (23.4 in) with an 80–105 cm (31–41 in) wingspan. The culmen measures 9.7 to 14.4 cm (3.8 to 5.7 in) in length, each wing measures 24.8–30.6 cm (9.8–12.0 in), the tail is 9–11.2 cm (3.5–4.4 in) and the tarsus measures 6.8–11.3 cm (2.7–4.4 in). The body mass of this ibis can range from 485 to 970 g (1.069 to 2.138 lb). Breeding adults have reddish-brown bodies and shiny bottle-green wings. Non-breeders and juveniles have duller bodies. This species has a brownish bill, dark facial skin bordered above and below in blue-gray (non-breeding) to cobalt blue (breeding), and red-brown legs.
This ibis is pretty glossy, but it's not a Glossy Ibis. The red eye gives it away as a White-faced Ibis (Plegadis chihi). But then it doesn't have a white face either. Pretty confusing. Found in Lafitte's Cove, Galveston Island, Texas. Lafitte (AKA Laffite) was a 19th century pirate who lived on the island.
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.
‘Glossy’ is an apt name for a creature whose plumage colour changes with the angle of the light; the dark brown iridescent feathers can reflect a purple bluish or greenish ‘gloss’.The glossy, the most adventurous of the world’s two dozen ibis species, has a nomadic streak; it has established breeding colonies in India, southeast Asia and Australia.
Birds breeding in Europe move to Africa in the Autumn but recently-fledged youngsters may disperse in other directions, travelling as far north as Iceland and Norway.
Ibises crossed the Atlantic in the 19th century and began nesting in central and north America.
Like elephant’s trunks, the bills of curlews and ibises are touch-sensitive but, despite appearances, the two species are not related. The curlew is a sandpiper, a wader, while the ibis’s closest kin are herons, spoonbills and storks.
Okay, it was way up there and I couldn't get a nice, detailed shot. But It's the first one I've spotted since I moved to Florida so I was excited anyway. :-)
Created for The Blind PIg Speakeasy Challenge 26 - Simply Minimal: www.flickr.com/groups/photopigs/discuss/72157648783499286/
Seen over Lake Apopka, Winter Garden, FL.
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One from the archives. Llanelli WWT, To see a wider range of images. Please click on the link below.
KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
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Ocean City NJ Rookery.
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A Glossy Ibis just starting to molt from its magnificent breeding plumage poses nicely in the canopy of the local heronry.
Black Point Wildlife Drive
Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge
Brevard County, Florida
Nov 2019
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Image taken from a photo boat in the Danube Delta, Romania.
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I was hoping to see these birds on the land and up close, which didn't happen. I've only seen them from a distance away or flying. There's been some sightings of them in good size numbers (which is common for this area during the spring time) but the timing didn't work out for me. However, I was lucky to see a few and capture them as they flew overhead.
Plegadis falcinellus, Medium sized wading bird, 22-25 inches.
Their feathers are purplish, brown, and unless they are in the sun they appear black.
They stay in warm areas, swamps , marshes, and rice fields. They eat small fish, insects, and small crustaceans .
Taken at Circle B Bar Reserve.
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