Species: Plegadis chihi

White-faced Ibis
Species

    A long-legged wader with a long slender decurved bill and chestnut plumage, glossed with green and purple (breeding adult); looks all-dark at a distance; immature and winter birds are dark with some lighter coloring or streaking on the head and neck; averages 58 cm long, 91 cm in wingspan (NGS 1983).

    Kingdom
    Animalia
    Phylum
    Craniata
    Class

    Aves

    Order

    Ciconiiformes

    Family

    Threskiornithidae

    Genus

    Plegadis

    Classification
    Other Global Common Names
    Caraúna-de-Cara-Branca, Maçarico-Preto - Ibis Cara Blanca, Cuervillo de Cañada - ibis à face blanche
    Informal Taxonomy
    Animals, Vertebrates - Birds - Wading Birds
    Formal Taxonomy
    Animalia - Craniata - Aves - Ciconiiformes - Threskiornithidae - Plegadis - P. FALCINELLUS and P. CHIHI are sometimes considered conspecific (AOU 1998). Oberholser (1974) used the name P. MEXICANA, but P. CHIHI is the name accepted by others (Banks and Browning 1995).

    A long-legged wader with a long slender decurved bill and chestnut plumage, glossed with green and purple (breeding adult); looks all-dark at a distance; immature and winter birds are dark with some lighter coloring or streaking on the head and neck; averages 58 cm long, 91 cm in wingspan (NGS 1983).

    Short General Description
    A medium-sized wading bird (ibis).
    Migration
    true - true - true - Resident in southern part of breeding range, migrates in northern areas. Northern populations winter from the southern U.S. south to northern Central America (Sibley and Monroe 1990).. In northern Utah, generally arrives in early April, most depart by late August, occasionally lingers into December (Paton et al. 1992).
    Non-migrant
    true
    Locally Migrant
    true
    Food Comments
    Typically feeds in freshwater marshes on: crayfishes, frogs, fishes, insects, newts, earthworms, crustaceans, etc. (Terres 1980). In the Central Valley of California, preferentially selected foraging sites with significantly higher midge (Chironomidae) and significantly lower oligochaete biomass (Safran et al. 2000).
    Reproduction Comments
    Clutch size usually is 3-4. Incubation lasts 21-22 days.
    Ecology Comments
    Gregarious; flocks of up to at least 290 have been observed, but generally they are much smaller.
    Length
    58
    Weight
    697
    NatureServe Global Status Rank
    G5
    Global Status Last Reviewed
    1996-11-20
    Global Status Last Changed
    1996-11-20
    Other Status

    LC - Least concern

    Conservation Status Map
    <img src="http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/GetMapGif?CA.AB=S1&CA.MB=S1&CA.SK=__&US.AL=SH&US.AZ=SNR&US.AR=__&US.CA=S1&US.CO=S2&US.ID=S2&US.KS=S1&US.LA=S4&US.MN=__&US.MS=__&US.MO=__&US.MT=S3&US.NN=__&US.NE=S3&US.NV=S3&US.NM=S3&US.ND=SU&US.OR=S3&US.SD=S2&US.TX=S4&US.UT=S2&US.WA=__&US.WY=S1" alt="Conservation Status Map" style="width: 475px; height: auto;" />
    Global Range
    H - >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles) - H - BREEDING: locally from central California, eastern Oregon, southern Idaho (Taylor et al. 1989), Montana, southern North Dakota, and (formerly) southwestern Minnesota south into Mexico (to Colima, Zacatecas, state of Mexico, Veracruz), Texas, and southwestern Louisiana, southern Alabama, Florida (occasionally or formerly); also locally in South America in Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, southern Brazil, northern and central Chile, and northern and central Argentina (AOU 1983). The world's largest nesting aggregation occurs probably in the marshes around the Great Salt Lake, Utah (D. Paul, in Paton et al. 1992). NON-BREEDING: north to southern California, Baja California, southern Texas, and Louisiana, south through lowlands to Guatemala and El Salvador, and in generally in breeding range in South America (AOU 1983). In the U.S., the highest winter densities occur near San Diego in California and on the coast of Texas and western Louisiana (Root 1988). Wanders outside usual range; rare straggler to Hawaii.
    Global Range Code
    H
    Global Range Description
    >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)
    ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.103784