Subject: White-faced Ibis, Plegadis chihi

Location: Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge, Colorado

Stock Number: 04-1835

Comments: Photographing this bird in southern Colorado, I realized how similar it is to the Glossy Ibis I regularly encounter in the east. When the birds are in breeding plumage, two easy ways to tell the two species apart are eye color and leg color. The White-faced Ibis has red eyes and red legs, while the Glossy Ibis has brown eyes and gray legs.

Pesticide poisoning once decimated populations of these birds, but since the advent of better pesticide regulation their numbers have rebounded somewhat.