white-faced vs glossy ibis (1 Viewer)

[mdmoshier2]

I saw this bird at the Mitchell Lake Audubon canter in San Antonio, TX 1 month ago. I know the glossy is uncommon and it is most likely a white-faced but it has no red around the eyes and a thin white line around the face like the glossy. I would appreciate your comments, thank you

 

[Butty]

it is most likely a white-faced but it has no red around the eyes and a thin white line around the face like the glossy

That appears not to rule out juvenile glossy ibis - maybe - and I'd guess it is a juvenile (hatched this year). Grey bill may fit white-faced ibis better if it's a juv. I'd guess most likely juvenile white-faced ibis - but this is a tricky species-pair and you need someone who knows them.

 

[mdmoshier2]

That appears not to rule out juvenile glossy ibis - maybe - and I'd guess it is a juvenile (hatched this year). Grey bill may fit white-faced ibis better if it's a juv. I'd guess most likely juvenile white-faced ibis - but this is a tricky species-pair and you need someone who knows them.

thank you, any other thoughts? I guess juveniles in these 2 such similar species may be impossible to tell apart

 

[nartreb]

It's a non-breeding adult - juveniles of both species have pale marks on the front of the neck. Might not be possible to make a good ID from this photo. I'm not confident that the photo shows the actual eye color. In white-faced, eye is red, with pinkish lores (paler pink at the margins, especially the upper margin). In glossy, eye is dark (with dark lores, with pale margins - again, upper margin most visible).

Photo might be a candidate for digitally boosting the color saturation. Everything is too dark and dull - see the color of the grass blades. Edit: I tried it, can find no hint of red in the eye. I'm leaning toward Glossy.

 

[birdmeister]

I agree with Butty in that this is a very tough pair to separate, especially outside of breeding plumage! I'm not exactly sure of the age, but it looks like there is some dull reddish in the facial skin and possibly the eye, too. Combine that with the more Glossy-like white line from eye to bill, and I'm not confident in saying either way. There's a well-documented mess of hybrids in mixed breeding colonies on the Gulf Coast, and hybrids can turn up wherever pure-species vagrants do, too.