I didn’t realize until after I sent my message that Kevin McGowan had already sent a message. It sounds like the bird was somewhat closer for us, and our lighting was a bit better. We only had a strong wind from our backs and a bit of spitting rain, not a downpour. Ann & I found that by using a window mount on each passenger side window of her car we could steady our scopes better and not be in the rain. Ann & Wade also walked along the driveway to gate where she used her scope on her tripod and Wade used his camera with a fairly big lens.
Kevin McGowan thought the bird was a non-breeding adult. I am interested in why. There may have been clues to its age that I overlooked. I think we were close enough that we should have seen either the pink facial skin of a non-breeding adult White-faced or the pale outline around the brown skin of a non-breeding adult Glossy. I think the feathering encroached more closely around a small dark facial area, like on the juvenile heads which Sibley shows, although this bird was old enough that the bill had changed to a single color. Perhaps the red eye of a non-breeding adult White-faced would have required more light for us to see, but none of us noticed it, although we were looking. - - Dave Nutter > On Nov 5, 2017, at 6:55 PM, Dave Nutter <nutter.d...@mac.com> wrote: > > This afternoon a Plegadis, sp., ibis was reported on the north side of > Armitage Road in the partially flooded field west of Olmstead Road and east > of the Clyde River & Erie Canal swamps. This is in Wayne County, in the > southwest corner of the Town of Savannah. The bird was close to the east end > of the field and about halfway from Armitage Road to the far dike, foraging > in a non-flooded part of the muddy field and sometimes in an adjacent weedy > strip. At least one Canada Goose was not in a sharing mood and caused the > ibis to walk extra and even fly a short distance. > > If anyone can say based on extensive experience and seeing this bird or > photos of it whether it is a Glossy Ibis or it is a White-faced Ibis, I am > interested in an ID and the basis for it. > > I believe it was a juvenile bird just starting its first winter, based on the > general lack of contrast of the plumage of the body & folded wings. It was > fairly dark brown on the body with only a small amount of slight green > highlight on the wing coverts that I saw. The head & neck were tan and > lighter on the side of the head. The legs were all dark. The bill appeared > uniform gray. There was no indication of red on the facial skin nor any pale > edging (indeed I could not see any facial skin), nor any red to the eye. I > suspect it was too young to develop any of these field marks. Perhaps the low > heavy cloud cover, and the distance to the bird made such subtleties too hard > to discern even at 60x with a scope steadied against the brisk wind. That’s > my observation, but others may have seen things differently. > > I think the gray bill suggests White-faced. The lack of pale edging to the > facial skin would also suggest White-faced, but as I said, it may be too > young for that feature of Glossy to develop. I’m pretty sure this is too > early in the season to expect the red eye or red facial skin of White-faced > to be present, so their absence would mean nothing. I believe red legs would > only be on the breeding plumage White-faced. I thought the tan head & neck > might suggest White-faced as well, but I could be wrong about that. As for > the overall body color, I thought Glossy should be darker, but I can’t claim > enough experience to be certain. Maybe if this bird sticks around for some > sunshine, then someone can judge the colors and highlights better. > > Other observers present while I was there included Ann Mitchell, Kevin > McGann, & Wade & Melissa Rowley. Wade in particular had the impression that > the overall tone of the body was dark, suggesting Glossy to him. He has > traveled through the White-faced Ibis’ range during the winter, so he has > more experience than I do, but he still doesn’t claim to be an expert. He > took plenty of photos, although my impression was that the bird was lighter > in color in real life than at the least the one photo he showed me. If anyone > does want to claim the role of expert, here’s an opportunity. It may be that > birds of this age are just too hard to tell apart unless both species are > side-by-side. I have heard second-hand that Kevin McGowan had also observed > this bird quite a while, taken lots of photos, and not yet reached a > conclusion, and perhaps that’s as good an expert opinion as we can expect. > > Similarly, I am interested in others’ observations of details of this bird, > and what they may or may not suggest as to its ID, regardless of any > conclusion or claim of expertise. It’s an interesting puzzle. > > It would be nice to settle on a species not just for my own and others’ > personal lists, but for the 2017 edition of Cayuga Lake Basin First Records > list which I have maintained on the Cayuga Bird Club website. There were two > other all-dark ibis sightings this year, a single bird over Tschache Pool and > a small flock over Cornell University, and both times the observers assumed > them to be Glossy without any details to distinguish the birds from > White-faced, the former observation being a shaky, distant, and > much-magnified video, and the latter observation being a naked-eye view of > birds in flight at 75 yards. I do not doubt each were ibis, but I think one > cannot assume that just because we are closer to the usual range of Glossy > that they are overwhelmingly more likely to stray west from their coastal > breeding range as opposed to White-faced straying east from their breeding > range. Indeed we once had one of each side-by-side at Benning Marsh. Anyway, > I counted both of those observations as Plegadis, sp., and I’m looking for an > observation of a bird which is distinctly either Glossy or White-faced before > I put it on the year’s list. > > - - Dave Nutter > > -- > Cayugabirds-L List Info: > Welcome and Basics > Rules and Information > Subscribe, Configuration and Leave > Archives: > The Mail Archive > Surfbirds > BirdingOnThe.Net > Please submit your observations to eBird! > -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
