White-faced Ibis

This is one of the most beautiful wading birds, the White-faced Ibis is a curious species that you can find along the lower half of North America. These birds are the American counterpart to the Glossy Ibis which live in every other continent except for Antarctica. These two species of Ibises are very similar to each other in both appearance and behavior, but there are unique sets of features that set these Ibises apart from each other.

About White-faced Ibises

You can find this species throughout the freshwater wetlands in North and Central America, with their distinctive bronze plumages giving them away easily. You can often see them west of the Mississippi River. These birds often wander throughout their range during the warmer months. They are opportunistic and quickly find and take advantage of new habitats temporarily after flooding. Even changing their nesting sites annually depending on the local water levels. Today, we want to be giving these gorgeous birds some attention. We will be discussing:

● White-faced Ibis Photos, Color Pattern, Song
● White-faced Ibis Size, Eating Behavior, Habitat
● White-faced Ibis Range and Migration, Nesting

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White-faced Ibis Color Pattern

Like other wading birds, White-faced Ibises do not exhibit any sexual dimorphism through their plumages. Adults of both sexes look similar to each other and are dark maroon and brown overall. The plumage, head, neck, upper back, wing coverts, and undersides are dark chestnut maroon with a metallic green and bronze sheen. Their wings have purplish overtones while their bare facial skin is a reddish-purple during the breeding seasons. The bill is a steely grey, with metallic hues complimenting the variety of other shades found in their bodies. Other notable features include thin white feathers that separate their forehead from the face during the breeding seasons. The irises of these birds are reddish-brown throughout the year. Juveniles strongly resemble adults but have a dark-banded bill and a duller body overall.

Description and Identification

These birds are relatively very easy to identify due to their vibrant plumages. They closely resemble Glossy Ibises but you can distinguish them by their red irises and red facial skin. Their red legs and their white facial feathers are also good indicators of these colorful birds. You can find them wandering along wetlands in the southwestern regions of the United States, with their metallic plumages often glistening from a distance, especially if direct sunlight hits it.

White-faced Ibis Song

Adults of these species do not have an extensive vocal range. When they engage in nest-building, they emit soft, guttural, babbling sounds. Once a male joins a female at the nest, they let out single “oink” as a feeding call. This call may also sound like “ka-onk” or a lower-pitched “kruk-kruk”. Flocks that have just taken flight give out a harsh, low-pitched “graa, graa, graa”. When they are about to land, they let out a loud, nasal “ka-onk, ka-onk”. Many people have also likened the calls of these birds to the sound of human laughter.

Other calls include a long, drawn-out “gheeeeee” when involved in aggressive situations with rivals. A greeting call given by the males to the females is also a notable call. It can be best rendered as “geeeek, geeeeek, geeeek, geeeek, geek”. Parents also let out guttural “goick, goick” while searching for their young near the nest. Nestlings make a begging, vibrating call that sounds like a “cheeeeeu”. The age at which they begin to develop their vocal tracts is not known. These birds are typically silent during most of the year, as a majority of the contexts in which they call out are restricted to the breeding seasons.

White-faced Ibis Size

White-faced Ibises are medium-sized wading birds around 18.1-22.8 inches long. They have stout bodies that are the same shape as a football. They weigh approximately 15.9-18.5 ounces. Their legs and neck are both very long, as is typical of most Ibises. They hold out their legs and neck in a straight posture when they are in flight. White-faced Ibis wings are broad with a wingspan of 35.4-36.6 inches with thick flight feathers that aid them in the air. Their bills are long and decurved, pointing downwards at the tip. Males have larger bills than females. Although both sexes are similar to each other in plumage, females tend to be slightly smaller than males.

White-faced Ibis Behavior

White-faced Ibises walk slowly through shallow waters and land while they forage, unlike many other Herons who stalk their prey through the same habitats. Young individuals are capable of walking on floating vegetation after 9-12 days. Although adults rarely climb except for when they move towards their day roosts, young ones are capable of climbing by small bushes by the end of their second week.

These birds are also strong fliers, taking strong strides with rapid wingbeats at heights of more than 200 feet above the ground. They engage in bouts of acrobatics, especially when some individual birds free-fall into the roost. When they forage together in large flocks, birds at the very back may take flight and “leap” over birds in the front as the group goes through the feeding areas. Birds generally fly in tightly knit flocks that make a V formation in the air, though this formation might loosen as they soar in higher altitudes the group tries to remain tight. It is not known if they are good swimmers, but chicks swim if they fall into the water before they are able to fly.

These Ibises are relatively less aggressive towards other rivals of their own kind, and of other waterbirds when in the area, often foraging closely together with each other. They are fairly tolerant of many different kinds of species, including egrets, herons, and other colonial waterbirds. However, if threatened, they will defend their nest sites with forwarding bill thrusts, contact jabbing, and physical fights. In the most extreme cases of provocation, they will grasp the feathers and skin of the intruder between their bill tips while pummelling forward with their wings. Their aggressive behaviors have only been spotted during the breeding seasons. While individuals will defend their own space, there are no fixed territories in their foraging areas.

Their other social behaviors are poorly studied. Pairs are monogamous, but there is very little data on their mating patterns and the duration of their bond. Mutual wagging of nest material is held in both partners’ bills. They also preen each other’s feathers before copulating.

White-faced Ibis Diet

Like a majority of other wading birds, White-faced Ibises are dependent on aquatic life in order to survive. Organisms from the soft soil surrounding waterbodies also play a huge role in their diets. They eat insects and crustaceans beneath the surface of wetlands by sticking their bills into the soft soil and sand and by using them as a pair of tweezers to extract their prey. They generally feed on crayfish, earthworms, marine worms, snails, snakes, and crabs, and other fish. However, they may also stab and pinch frogs, lizards, snails, and newts in the vicinity. They also feed on leeches, insects, insect larvae, and spiders that live under the ground.

White-faced Ibis Habitat

You can find these birds breeding in fresh marshes, irrigated pastures, and tules. They favor very shallow water for foraging and often be feed at flooded pastures, irrigated fields, and in marshes of many kinds. They are opportunists that take advantage of temporary wetlands due to weather changes, such as heavy rains causing flooding. Sometimes, they may even be feeding at damp meadows with no standing water. They prefer freshwater marshes much more than other forms of wetlands, but you can find them foraging in brackish and saltwater marshes as well. Nestlings live in freshwater marshes, as they are presumably too young to be able to consume large amounts of salt.

Range and Migration

White-faced Ibises can be found in many regions of Canada, the United States, Central America, and the southern half of South America. They are present all year in southern California, coastal Texas, and Louisiana due to the warmer conditions in those states. In all other regions of North America, they are short to medium distant migrants. Birds that breed in the northern parts of their range move to southern regions to escape the harsh winters. For instance, birds in northern California and southern Oregon move to winter areas in southern California and Mexico.

White-faced Ibis Lifecycle

After copulation, White-faced Ibises lay their only brood of the entire season. They typically lay clutches of 3-5 pale blue-green to dark turquoise eggs, with clutches larger than 5 probably resulting from other females laying eggs in the same nest. Incubation is then done by both the parents for around 17-26 days, with the average incubation period generally lingering around 21-22 days. Once the eggs hatch, the chicks are mostly helpless. They hatch with closed eyes and are covered in sparse down feathers. They are fed by both their parents through regurgitation for around 6 weeks, but they begin moving about their nest well before that. are able to fly well at the age of 5 weeks.

Nesting

White-faced Ibises breed in colonies, with the site of the colony shifting year to year. Nest sites are selected within dense marsh growth like bulrush or cattails, or within low shrubs or trees above water. On rarer occasions, they nest on the ground on islands. The construction of the nest is carried out by both sexes. It is a bulky platform of bulrushes or other plant stems with a depression at the center for the eggs. The materials come from the areas surrounding the nest and are sometimes even stolen from the vacant nests of other birds.

Anatomy of a White-faced Ibis

White-faced Ibises are large, maroon-wading birds with a long and curved bill. Breeding adults have reddish-pink legs and a patch of pink in front of their eyes, a feature that has an elegant white border. Their plumages have a metallic green and bronze sheen to them, a feature that makes them very similar to Glossy Ibises in appearance.

Final Thoughts

The populations of these magnificent birds have been noted to be stable between 1966 and 2014 according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey. Their populations have been steadily increasing over the last couple of decades, with most contemporary surveys classifying them as a species of least concern. Although they are not yet well-understood, these birds are among the few that have been thriving in comparison to many other waterbirds. Although factors like habitat loss still play a huge role in their quality of life, they seem to be flourishing in most parts of the United States. From reinforcing the cultural knowledge of the beauty of birds, to constantly surprising humans about just how extraordinary birds can be, White-faced Ibises are testimonies to the fact that few things can be more beautiful than wildlife.

Ornithology

Bird Watching Academy & Camp Subscription Boxes

At the Bird Watching Academy & Camp we help kids, youth, and adults get excited and involved in bird watching. We have several monthly subscription boxes that you can subscribe to. Our monthly subscription boxes help kids, youth, and adults learn about birds, bird watching, and bird conservation.

Bird Watching Binoculars for Identifying White-faced Ibises

The most common types of bird watching binoculars for viewing White-faced Ibises are 8×21 binoculars and 10×42 binoculars. Bird Watching Academy & Camp sells really nice 8×21 binoculars and 10×42 binoculars. You can view and purchase them here.

White-faced Ibis Stickers

Stickers are a great way for you to display your love for bird watching and the White-faced Ibis. We sell a monthly subscription sticker pack. The sticker packs have 12 bird stickers. These sticker packs will help your kids learn new birds every month.

Bird Feeders For White-faced Ibises

There are many types of bird feeders. Here are our favorite bird feeders for your backyard. We use all of these bird feeders currently. Kids will have a great time watching birds eat at these bird feeders. Using this collection of bird feeders will provide a wide variety and many types of birds.

Best Bird Houses For White-faced Ibises

There are many types of bird houses. Building a bird house is always fun but can be frustrating. Getting a bird house for kids to watch birds grow is always fun. If you spend a little extra money on bird houses, it will be well worth every penny and they’ll look great.