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Oct 06, 2013 Features / Columnists, Interesting Creatures in Guyana
The Scarlet Ibis (Eudocimus ruber) is a species of ibis in the bird family Threskiornithidae. It inhabits tropical South America and islands of the Caribbean. In form it resembles most of the other 27 extant species of ibis, but its remarkably brilliant scarlet coloration makes it unmistakable.
This medium-sized wader is a hardy, numerous, and prolific bird, and it has protected status around the world. Its IUCN status is “least concern”. The legitimacy of Eudocimus ruber as a biological classification, however, is in dispute. Traditional Linnaean taxonomy classifies it as a unique species, but an increasing number of scientists have moved to reclassify it as a subspecies of a more general American ibis species, along with its close relative Eudocimus albus.
Adult plumage is virtually all scarlet. The feathers may show various tints and shades, but only the tips of their wings deviate from their namesake colour. A small but reliable marking, these wingtips are a rich inky black (or occasionally dark blue) and are found only on the longest primaries – otherwise the birds’ coloration is “a vivid orange-red, almost luminous in quality.”
Scarlet ibises have red bills and feet however the bill is sometimes blackish, especially toward the end. They have a long, narrow, de-curved bill. Their legs and neck are long and extended in flight.
A juvenile Scarlet Ibis is a mix of grey, brown, and white. As it grows, a heavy diet of red crustaceans produces the scarlet coloration. The colour change begins with the juvenile’s second moult, around the time it begins to fly: the change starts on the back and spreads gradually across the body while increasing in intensity over a period of about two years. The Scarlet Ibis is the only shorebird with red coloration in the world.
Adults are 55–63 centimetres (22–25 in) long, and the males, slightly larger than females, typically weigh about 1.4 kilograms (3.1 lb). Their bills are also on average around 22% longer than those of females. The life span of the Scarlet Ibis is approximately 16 years in the wild and 20 years in captivity. An adult Scarlet Ibis has a wingspan of around 54 centimetres (21 in). Though it spends most of its time on foot or wading through water, the bird is a very strong flyer: they are highly migratory and easily capable of long-distance flight. They move as flocks in a classic V formation.
The range of the Scarlet Ibis is very large, and colonies are found throughout vast areas of South America and the Caribbean islands. Native flocks exist in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname and Venezuela, as well as the islands of the Netherlands Antilles, and Trinidad and Tobago.
Flocks gather in wetlands and other marshy habitats, including mud flats, shoreline and rainforest. There is an outlying colony in the Santos-Cubatão mangroves of Baixada Santista district in southeastern Brazil, which is considered critically endangered.
The highest concentrations are found in the Llanos region between western Venezuela and eastern Colombia. The fertile and remote tropical grassland plain of the Llanos provides a safe haven far from human encroachment. Together with its relative the Bare-faced Ibis, the Scarlet Ibis is remarkably prolific and conspicuous in the region.
Mating pairs build nests in a simple style, typically “loose platforms of sticks “of a quality sometimes described as “artless.” They roost in leaf canopies, mostly preferring the convenient shelter of young waterside mangrove trees. Scarlet ibises like wet, muddy areas such as swamps, but for safety they build their nests in trees well above the water. If they can, they nest on islands, where their eggs and chicks are less likely to be in danger from predators.
To attract a female, the male will perform a variety of mating rituals such as preening, shaking, bill popping, head rubbing, and high flights. As with most birds, mating does not involve any coupling or insertion: instead, a transfer of seminal fluids occurs during external contact between the cloacal openings. After a gestation period of five to six days, the female lays a clutch of three to five smooth, matte eggs which typically incubate for 19–23 days. After a successful courtship, pairs remain faithful and cohabitant, sharing parental responsibilities for the young.
In southeastern Brazil, the ibis gather in colonies in mid-September and build nests at the beginning of November. Egg laying within the colony was synchronous, with female birds laying eggs in three waves in early November, late December and late January.
Their distinctive long, thin bills are used to probe for food in soft mud or under plants.
Popularly imagined to be eating only shrimp, a recent study in Llanos has found that much of their diet consists of insects, of which the majority were scarabs and ground beetles.
They do, however, eat much shrimp and other similar fare like small crabs, mollusks and other crustaceans. The large quantity of shrimp and other red shellfish produces a surfeit of astaxanthin, a carotenoid which is the key component of the birds’ red pigmentation. When kept in zoos, the birds’ diet often contains beetroot and carrot supplement to maintain colour vibrance in their plumage.
The Llanos are notable in that these wetland plains support seven species of ibis in the one region. Here, Scarlet Ibis are the most aggressive, and attack other species to steal their food.
The Scarlet Ibis is a sociable and gregarious bird, and very communally-minded regarding the search for food and the protection of the young. They live in flocks of 30 or more. Members stay close, and mating pairs arrange their nests in close proximity to other pairs in the same tree.
For protection, flocks often congregate in large colonies of several thousand individuals. They also regularly share time among other avian creatures, gaining additional safety through numbers: storks, spoonbills, egrets, herons and ducks are all common companions during feedings and flights. (Source: Wikipedia – The Free Online Encyclopedia)
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