Birders,

It has been really enjoyable to discuss and work through the
identification of the 3 Franklin County ibises.  I thought I would
share a summary of the identification of these birds as I understand
them.  I would encourage checking out the references below if you are
interested in reading up on these birds.

The labeling (numbering) of the ibises in this email corresponds to
their labeling in my photos, which are posted here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/daveslager/sets/72157630612334970/

Ibis #1

The head and neck on this bird are brownish with whitish streaks but
lack white splotches and lack maroon feathers. The bird has red eyes
and pinkish facial skin.  Taken together, these characters on a July
bird should indicate a second-year White-faced Ibis (Pyle 2008, Patten
and Lasley 2000).  The logic is that hatch-year birds should still
have brown eyes in July, whereas after-second-year birds in July
should have at least some maroon on the head and neck.

Both Glossy and White-faced Ibises have been expanding their ranges
quite rapidly over the past decades and are more or less equally
likely to occur in Ohio.  There is now substantial hybridization
occurring where their breeding ranges overlap.  Hybrid White-faced x
Glossy Ibises are possible in Ohio and difficult to discern from
parental species (Arterburn and Grzbowski 2003).  This means that any
Plegadis ibis in Ohio needs to be carefully scrutinized.  Hybrids
typically show some plum or blue coloration on the facial skin, and
the borders to the facial skin on hybrids tend to be light blueish,
not pale pink (Arterburn and Grzbowski 2003).  The facial skin on Ibis
#1 is pinkish with a paler pinkish border above and below.  This paler
pinkish border on Ibis #1 is a normal characteristic of White-faced
Ibis facial skin and so is probably not a sign of hybridization
(Arterburn and Grzybowski 2003, Patten and Lasley 2000).  In addition,
hybrids usually have brownish to brownish-red eyes (Arterburn and
Grzbowski 2003).  Ibis #1 has a bright red eye, again consistent with
White-faced Ibis.

Ibis #2 and Ibis #3

These birds' heads and necks lack maroon feathering but have splotches
of white feathers, indicating that they are hatch-year birds in
juvenal plumage, and thus they should be unidentifiable to species
(Pyle 2008, Patten and Lasley 2000).

Acknowledgments

I should thank Caleb Putnam, Phillip Chu, Paul Hurtado, and Bill Whan
for providing helpful references, and them and several others on- and
off-list for useful discussion on the age and identity of these birds.

References

Arterburn and Grzybowski 2003.  Hybridization between Glossy and
White-faced Ibises.  North American Birds 57:136-139.
http://www.okbirds.org/nab-v57-n1-2003-glossy-whitefaced-hybridization-new.pdf

Patten and Lasley 2000.  Range expansion of the Glossy Ibis in North
America.  North American Birds 54:241-247.
http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/NAB/v054n03/p00241-p00247.pdf

Pyle 2008.  Identification Guide to North American Birds, Part II.
(see quoted text in posting from Paul Hurtado:)
http://www.birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/OHIO.html#1342496924

Good birding,
Dave Slager
Columbus, Ohio

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