Ibisis and Spoonbills

Glossy Ibis

Plegadis falcinellus
Ann Stear was worried she had arrived too late that morning in late October 1987 to see the ibis at Buck Pond. However, she quickly spotted it wading and feeding in the shallows. “It preened and stretched its wings, and the rising sun glinted off its scimitar bill,” she related. Not even the sound of hunters’ gunshots from a nearby thicket alarmed the bird, which simply “moved into an even more exposed area of the pond” – even as Stear hurried to take cover in her car. More hunters were arriving, and Stear hoped that “none would shoot the ibis out of idle curiosity.” (LG, November 1987) Unfortunately, in this case, that might have been the only way to establish its true identity. “Although the ibis was most likely a Glossy Ibis,” Steve Taylor noted, “White-faced and Glossy Ibis are very difficult to differentiate in the fall, and an ibis reported this late in the fall has a slightly greater chance of being a White-faced Ibis than an ibis that is reported in the spring or summer.”
Background
Glossy Ibis is the most widespread ibis, with populations in Central and South America, southern Europe, Africa, Asia, India and Australia. In North America it is restricted to the East and Gulf coasts, from New Brunswick through Florida and Louisiana, and sporadically inland, nesting in colonies with a variety of herons. It often disperses widely after breeding. In the early 1920s it was limited to being a rare and local Florida breeder, but it underwent a remarkable range expansion through the 1970s. Declines have been noted from Virginia northward since then. Ditching of marshes for mosquito control has reduced suitable habitat for foraging; water level regulation has reduced breeding pairs in other areas. (BNA 545: 1, 14-15) Like the Cattle Egret, this is an Old World species that crossed the Atlantic, then spread up the East Coast, though much earlier. Early in the 20th century it was only an accidental visitor in the state. (Bull, p. 93) But as breeding colonies began extending north, reaching the Mid-Atlantic states in the 1950s, that began to change.“Between 1944 and 1959 the Glossy Ibis became an annual visitor to the state,” David M. Peterson recounts. (Andrle, p. 54) That included the first modern records in our region. Local history
Eaton listed a specimen taken at Rochester in 1898. (Eaton I: 243) The next record was a 6 May 1950 sighting of this coastal wader in the Ling Road swamp, Edson reported. (WBR, 15 May 1950; see also 4 October 1954 and 5 May 1958) It was still being seen there as late as May 17. (B&M, p. 104) Another spent 25-26 September 1954 “in the cattail swamps around Braddock’s Bay.” (WBR 4 October 1954, KB 4:103) Then came three records in spring 1958: one 19 April (Kemnitzer, Listman) at Webster Park, one 18 May (Miller) at Tryon Park and one 22 May (McKinney) at Island Cottage. (KB 8: 46) In 1961, the first New York state breeding pair was observed at Jamaica Bay. (Andrle, p. 54) By the following year, there had been six records here, and the year after that Starling expressed the hope that it “may some day be found nesting in Monroe County.” (WBR, 29 April 1963) That hasn’t happened. Breeding in New York State is confined primarily to Long Island and Staten Island, where 888 pairs were counted in 15 colonies in 1985. (Andrle, p. 54) However, this bird, which appears almost black at a distance, continues to be seen almost yearly. Status
Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, uncommon spring visitant, and an occasional, rare fall visitant.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a casual very rare fall transient.
Occurrence
There have been more than 50 records since 1950. Most have been reported April through June, with a smaller spike in September and October.

The Monroe County annotated list indicates a record early date of 2 April. This is apparently the one seen by L. Moon and others in 1981 at Braddock Bay. (GNR) Note, however, that the Kingbird lists the date as 4 April. (KB 31: 163) One on 4 December 1999 (D. Tetlow) at Sodus Bay (KB 50:160) was record late. One from 1-16 December 1990 at Webster was “most likely a Glossy Ibis” but was entered as a “plegadis sp.” (KB 41:104) There’s no problem telling whether a dark, long-legged, long billed wader is an ibis. “The shape, size and overall color . . . make it unmistakeable,” Frank Dobson observed. (Birds, 8 Nov 1987)The quandary for Rochester area birders comes when they show up in fall and early winter. Is it a glossy or a white-faced, which has yet to be documented here?The problem is that juvenile birds, the most likely to wander, are virtually impossible to tell apart. Glossy ibises are less numerous, but being East Coast birds are the ones most likely to appear in our region. White-faced ibises are West Coast birds, but are much more common and thus, theoretically, could be expected to make an appearance here sooner or later. And so, when an ibis showed up in lakefront marshes in late October 1987, several birders, including Stear, gave it a close look. Alas, “the ibis was never nearer than at least 100 yards, and light conditions were generally poor,” Dobson reported. “Even through 20- to 40- power telescope eyepieces there was no clear indication of species.” It went into the books as just another dark ibis. (KB 38:32)
Maxima:There had never been more than one or two birds seen together at one time here until as many as five were observed at Braddock Bay in May 1968. (KB 18:149) As many as six were in the Braddock Bay/Parma area in May 1976. (KB 26:159) 7 on 17 May 1969 (Listman, McNetts) at Hamlin. (KB 19: 150) 15 on 3 May 1970 (T. Tetlow) at Braddock Bay (KB 20:127), which was the “largest inland flock to date,” Bull (1974) wrote. (Bull, p. 93)

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