Species: Plegadis chihi
White-faced Ibis
Species
Encyclopedia of Puget Sound
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).
Classification
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Craniata
Class
Aves
Order
Ciconiiformes
Family
Threskiornithidae
Genus
Plegadis
NatureServe
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).
Ecology and Life History
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
Conservation Status
NatureServe Global Status Rank
G5
Global Status Last Reviewed
1996-11-20
Global Status Last Changed
1996-11-20
Other Status
LC - Least concern
Distribution
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)

