Question on Ibus birds

[Alwese]

I have lived in Jacksonville Florida since 1979. Only in the past two years have I ever seen these long beaked waterbirds called an Ibus (I don't even know if I am spelling this properly.) We have a large retention pond less than a mile from our home and large flocks of about 200 of them gather there now. Most of the birds are all white, but some are molotted with grey. It came to me today as I was watching them that the grey ones might possibly be juvenile birds and they would turn pure white as they get older. Does anybody know for sure if the greyish ones are just breeding abboritions or they possibly are just juvenile birds? I will try to get a picture of them tomorrow.

 

[thekarens]

It's white ibis most likely. The darker ones are juvies. Google white ibis and that should confirm it for you.

 

[EAI]

How lucky! By far, Ibis's are one of my favorite bird species.
I looked it up too, and juveniles are grey..but don't let that stop you from posting pictures

 

[thekarens]

We get white ibis and white faced ibis here. They are very cool birds and I agree on the pics.

 

[RavensGryf]

I've seen large white birds here near the water too, but I think ours are Egrets or Herons?

Karen, here's a question for a birder.. What's this?

 

[EAI]

I vote heron, i've seen them a few times freely walking around near and in our zoo.

 

[thekarens]

Definitely heron if it's blue/grey. If it's white, great egret, though the great blue heron comes in a white morph. I can't tell from the shadows the color.

 

[getwozzy]

Julie- yours is a great blue heron....we have TONS of them here since we live right next to a major river.

 

[AshMGon]

I've seen large white birds here near the water too, but I think ours are Egrets or Herons?

Karen, here's a question for a birder.. What's this?

Blurry, but it looks like a great blue heron.

 

[RavensGryf]

Julie- yours is a great blue heron....we have TONS of them here since we live right next to a major river.

This was on the lawn of Yamaha Motor Corp you can see the sign in the distance, it's in the suburbs and not near water. It looked so out of place I had to take a pic. Maybe he was lost lol. It was a gray color and huge.

 

[Alwese]

I will definitely get over there for pictures tomorrow. An easy 200 of the Ibus were right up next to the road as someone dumped off a big bag of dog food into a pile there and they were all having a party!! Ten years ago you would have never seen a Canadian Goose in North Florida; now we have hundreds of them that do not migrate and raise their young right here. Every new business is required to have a retention pond for the drainage from it's parking lot. Those ponds have become a habitat for Wood Storks, Great White Egrets, Canadian Geese, and Ibus, as well as an occasional tame domestic Muscovy Duck.

 

[Taw5106]

My parents have a ton around their house in Florida, they're all named Fred, lol. Their house backs up to Lake Ockeechobee and we fish off the patio. Freds show up and we drop the fish in a bucket and Fred dines on the fish. They will come close but not too close, beautiful birds.

 

[Alwese]

Sorry folks! I went to the pond this morning with half a shopping bag full of hot air popped popcorn and there was nobody to feed it to. We have had several bad weather days in a row and for what ever reason, nobody showed up. I will get pics as soon as possible.

 

[RavensGryf]

Aww! Well if they had only known a nice human was there with yummy treats they'd have shown up and called their friends too! They'll be back

 

[thekarens]

I don't think you can attract ibis with popcorn, but you should with ducks etc.

 

[Taw5106]

Or small fish like carps. See my previous post. They turn into Freds, lol. Hungry Fred's.

 

[Alwese]

OK folks! New game today and the birds were there, but not quite as many. Today I brought my camera but not the popcorn. Hey they were eating dog food two days ago bigtime. I think they are opportunist eaters, even though their long bill is clearly for water habitat. Click on the thumbnails to make them larger. There were also two wood storks there today. They are somewhat endangered due to loss of habitat, but do well in Jacksonville.

 

[RavensGryf]

Wow that's quite a flock there! I love the storks too. Thank you for sharing

 

[thekarens]

I love woodstorks!

 

[Alwese]

If you like Woodstorks you would really like the Jacksonville Zoo. Several years ago a couple of wild woodstorks nested in a huge tree in the middle of the zoo grounds. These are not captive birds, they just happened to figure out they were safe there having their nest. Around 2000 the number of woodstorks nesting in this one tree grew to about a hundred almost to the point of killing the tree. There is an elevated walkway around the tree that allows you to come within 6' of some of the birds on their nests. They don't seem to be too concerned about people, knowing they are safe from harm. The spectacle of several hundred storks all with nests in the same tree is a photographer's dream. Nesting is in late April and early May. I will try to get over there for pics this Spring when it happens again. The chicks are so cute all fuzzy with long beaks.