Puerto Rico- Scarlet Ibis or Flamingo? (1 Viewer)

[TinyTody]

Greetings everyone,

I went to Puerto Rico last month, and there I saw at least 4 American Flamingos.

I thought I saw 5, but an eBird reviewer told me it is most likely there are 4 and one of them is a scarlet ibis.

Please look at my pictures, they were taken from REALLY far away. they all appear flamingo-y too me and were only taken a few minutes apart...

Any thoughts? GREATLY appreciated!

The flock of 4:

The one by itself:

 

[lou salomon]

it's Carribean Flamingo. note paler wings and very long necks.

 

[nartreb]

Not the clearest photos, but they all look rather pale and pinkish to me (not as vivid red-orange as a scarlet ibis should be), and they all look alike (and yes, necks too long for ibis when visible).

I was confused for a minute by some thicker branches in the foreground that are placed about where an ibis' dark wingtips might be - maybe your reviewer made the same mistake? Which one did she think was the ibis?

 

[lou salomon]

Which one did she think was the ibis?

I guess she thought about the last one being a Scarlet Ibis, but its neck is way too long.

 

[THE_FERN]

Flamencos for sure

 

[Microtus]

American Flamingos

And, welcome to the Forum!

 

[nartreb]

I guess she thought about the last one being a Scarlet Ibis, but its neck is way too long.

You mean the last photo posted? It's horribly blurry. There does seem to be something reddish below the main body and slightly left. If that's the head/neck then yes, neck is too long for an ibis. But I can't figure out what the yellowish pointy-seeming bit is sticking out to the right of the main body (next to the area of most intense red), so I hesitate to draw a lot of conclusions from this photo. (Logically, the golden bit is a wingtip or tail feather(s) catching the light, but... I can't actually see that no matter how hard I try.)

Still, the shade of pale pink is exactly the same as the other photos, and there's certainly nothing visible that would favor ibis over flamingo.

 

[njlarsen]

You mean the last photo posted? It's horribly blurry. There does seem to be something reddish below the main body and slightly left. If that's the head/neck then yes, neck is too long for an ibis. But I can't figure out what the yellowish pointy-seeming bit is sticking out to the right of the main body (next to the area of most intense red), so I hesitate to draw a lot of conclusions from this photo. (Logically, the golden bit is a wingtip or tail feather(s) catching the light, but... I can't actually see that no matter how hard I try.)

Still, the shade of pale pink is exactly the same as the other photos, and there's certainly nothing visible that would favor ibis over flamingo.

I also really wondered what that photo is showing. Remember that the flamingo should have black wing tip. Did the Roseate Spoonbill enter the discussion at any point?
Niels

 

[THE_FERN]

I also really wondered what that photo is showing. Remember that the flamingo should have black wing tip. Did the Roseate Spoonbill enter the discussion at any point?
Niels

Surely wrong shape, colour. It's a clear flamingo for me. Perhaps we can't see [e.g.] black in the wings but what we can see is absolutely right.