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White-faced Ibis

Plegadis chihiOrder: CICONIIFORMESFamily: Ibises (Threskiornithidae)

White-faced Ibis Portrait
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General

White-faced Ibis: Medium-sized wading bird, iridescent bronze-brown overall with thin band of white feathers around bare red face, and long, down curved bill. Eyes and legs are red. Sexes are similar. Winter adult lacks white on face.

Range and Habitat

White-faced Ibis: Breeds from Oregon sporadically east to Minnesota and south to southeastern New Mexico and Texas, and east to coastal Louisiana. Spends winters from southern California and the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana to El Salvador. Preferred habitats include salt and fresh marshes in the west, and coastal marshes and brushy islands in Louisiana and Texas.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"oink", "graa-graa-graa"

Interesting Facts

 White-faced ibises are declining throughout North America, where continuing threats include draining of wetlands and the widespread use of pesticides.

 It is thought that the largest white-faced ibis nesting colony in the world can be found in the marshes around the Great Salt Lake in Utah.

 A group of ibises has many collective nouns, including a "congregation", "stand", and "wedge" of ibises.



Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Range Map for White-faced Ibis
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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.
Family Ibis (Threskiornithidae)_blue
Species Plegadis chihi
Length20 - 26 Inches
Wingspan37 Inches

White-faced Ibis

White-faced Ibis: Medium wading bird, iridescent bronze-brown overall, thin band of white feathers around bare red face, long, down curved bill. Red eyes, legs, feet. Feeds on invertebrates, frogs, fish. Alternates several shallow rapid wing beats and short glides. Flies in straight line formation.

● Song: "oink", "graa-graa-graa"

● Foraging & Feeding: White-faced Ibis: Diet consists of crayfish and other invertebrates, as well as frogs and fish. Coastal birds forage in salt marshes and include crabs in diet; feeds by probing mud with its long bill.

● Breeding & nesting: White-faced Ibis: Two to five pale blue green to dark turquoise eggs are laid in a shallow cup of reeds lined with grass and built in a low marsh bush. Incubation ranges from 17 to 26 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: White-faced Ibis: Glossy Ibis has blue-gray lores and dark legs.

Flight Pattern

Several rapid shallow wing beats followed by glide.
White-faced Ibis Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: White-faced Ibis: Breeds from Oregon sporadically east to Minnesota and south to southeastern New Mexico and Texas, and east to coastal Louisiana. Spends winters from southern California and the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana to El Salvador. Preferred habitats include salt and fresh marshes in the west, and coastal marshes and brushy islands in Louisiana and Texas.
BreedingMonogamous, Colonial
PopulationUncommon to fairly common
MigrationMigratory
Weight25.6 Ounces