Last week it rained. The days were gray and the rain fell gently upon the landscape. The snow of our March blizzard slowly disappeared and the ice upon the lakes and ponds started to yield to the shining, rippled surface of open water. Then, as always happens at this time of year, I found myself noticing pairs of ducks flying in the morning twilight as I drove to work. They were only silhouettes in the low light, but my imagination painted them with the glowing colors of anticipation and optimism.
Spring is in the building, but she hasn’t made a formal appearance yet. Some of us are willing to wait patiently, but others are too excited to wait any longer and will go out in search of her. Florida is a popular destination. I don’t have any plans to visit the sunshine state this year, but I’d really like to. I want to smell the perfume of warm, wet earth and green growing things.
So, as I sat in front of my computer listening to the rain falling on the roof, I found my imaginary self boarding a plane and heading south. I wasn’t headed for theme parks or anything like that. Instead, I was headed for swamps and marshes where wild things live. Imaginary me wanted to be surrounded with color and the sights and sounds of vibrant life.
Real me, typing away at a keyboard, tried to think of one bird that would exemplify the destination that imaginary me was looking for. Something big, bright and different, huh? What would fit the bill? Ah, that was an easy question to answer. The glossy ibis came clearly into view.
The glossy ibis (Plegadis falcinellus) is a bird that I would describe as “big.” The living, breathing creature seems to occupy a lot of space as it wanders through the shallow waters of marshes and other emergent wetlands in search of small animals that it can capture and swallow. In particular, the bird’s long legs and long, curved beak make it seem “larger than life.”
That long beak really made an impression on the early taxonomists who were charged with coming up with a scientific name for the species. The genus name “Plegadis” is from the Greek word “plegados,” meaning, “sickle.” The species name “falcinellus” is the diminutive form of the Latin word “falcis,” which also happens to mean “sickle.” A nice translation might be, “the little sickle,” but I am quite sure that one of you might have a more accurate translation in mind.
Anyway, large as it seems, the glossy ibis actually has the same basic dimensions as a mallard duck. Both have a body length of 23 inches and a wingspan of 35 to 36 inches. The main difference is in weight, with the mallard’s 2.4 pounds being double that of the ibis. Still, the ibis has those long legs and that long beak, which give it the illusion of a larger size.
The most striking thing about this bird, however, is its feathers. In the winter, some of the colors fade, especially around the head, but in April the bird is swathed in iridescent coppers and greens. When seen in the right light, the bird glows as brightly as anything my imagination could cook up.
Getting a photo of a glossy ibis is easier said than done, however. I have been to Florida many times, and I have aimed my camera at many an ibis, but these birds that seem so large on the one hand, also show the quick, incessant movements of smaller birds.
The glossy ibis is a bird that feeds by probing the shallows with that sickle-shaped beak, and that is a very active form of feeding. As a result, these birds are almost always in motion, and I have more blurry photos of ibises than anything else.
If you find yourself in Florida in the coming weeks, you will find yourself instantly transported to the height of the breeding season. The glossy ibis is a colonial nester, and birds will build nests in trees, shrubs or even on the ground. The female will lay two to four blue-green eggs and the pair will take turns incubating. The nest will eventually double in size, because male glossy ibises have the habit of adding sticks every time they arrive at the nest for a changing of the guard.
The eggs will be incubated for 21 days and then, upon hatching, the real work begins for the parents. The chicks will need a constant supply of insects, aquatic invertebrates and an occasional snake or two. It takes more than a month for the chicks to be able to fly, and at some point they become impatient with their parents and cannot wait to be fed. This is when they leave the nest and follow their parents to good feeding areas.
In the weeks to come, the world will be transformed. The winter doldrums are over, and so much will happen that I won’t be able to keep up. I will, however, do my best to highlight some of the most wonderful things that can be observed, so stay tuned. I think this is going to be a truly wonderful spring.
Bill Danielson has worked for the National Park Service, the US Forest Service, and the Massachusetts State Parks. He has been a professional writer and nature photographer for 19 years and he also teaches high school biology and physics. Visit www.speakingofnature.com for more information, or go to Speaking of Nature on Facebook.