Plegadis chihi

(Vieillot, 1817)

White-faced Ibis

G5Secure Found in 57 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
Least concernIUCN
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.103784
Element CodeABNGE02020
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVertebrate Animal
IUCNLeast concern
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumCraniata
ClassAves
OrderPelecaniformes
FamilyThreskiornithidae
GenusPlegadis
Other Common Names
Caraúna-de-Cara-Branca, Maçarico-Preto (PT) Ibis à face blanche (FR) Ibis Cara Blanca, Cuervillo de Cañada (ES)
Concept Reference
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
Taxonomic Comments
P. falcinellus and P. chihi are sometimes considered conspecific (AOU 1998). Oberholser (1974) used the name P. mexicana, but P. chihi is the name accepted by others (Banks and Browning 1995).
Conservation Status
Rank MethodExpertise without calculation
Review Date2016-04-09
Change Date1996-11-20
Range Extent>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)
Number of Occurrences81 - 300
Rank Reasons
Secure due mainly to large range; locally fairly common; relatively small number of breeding areas; vulnerable to habitat alteration, disturbance during nesting, and pesticide contamination.
Range Extent Comments
BREEDING: locally from central California, eastern Oregon, southern Idaho (Taylor et al. 1989), Montana, southern North Dakota, and (formerly) southwestern Minnesota south into Mexico (to Colima, Zacatecas, state of Mexico, Veracruz), Texas, and southwestern Louisiana, southern Alabama, Florida (occasionally or formerly); also locally in South America in Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, southern Brazil, northern and central Chile, and northern and central Argentina (AOU 1983). The world's largest nesting aggregation occurs probably in the marshes around the Great Salt Lake, Utah (D. Paul, in Paton et al. 1992). NON-BREEDING: north to southern California, Baja California, southern Texas, and Louisiana, south through lowlands to Guatemala and El Salvador, and in generally in breeding range in South America (AOU 1983). In the U.S., the highest winter densities occur near San Diego in California and on the coast of Texas and western Louisiana (Root 1988). Wanders outside usual range; rare straggler to Hawaii.
Threat Impact Comments
Limited number of breeding locations; vulnerable to fluctuating water levels. Susceptible to breeding failure in areas of pesticide contamination. Breeders in Nevada are still being contaminated with DDE-DDT in Mexican wintering areas (Henny and Herron 1989).
Ecology & Habitat

Description

A long-legged wader with a long slender decurved bill and chestnut plumage, glossed with green and purple (breeding adult); looks all-dark at a distance; immature and winter birds are dark with some lighter coloring or streaking on the head and neck; averages 58 cm long, 91 cm in wingspan (NGS 1983).

Diagnostic Characteristics

Breeding adult differs from glossy ibis in having a reddish bill, red eyes, all-red legs, and a white feathered border around the facial skin; border extends behind eye and under chin. Winter adult differs from glossy ibis in lacking the pale line from the eye to the bill. (NGS 1983).

Habitat

Marshes, swamps, ponds and rivers, mostly in freshwater habitats (Tropical to Temperate zones) (AOU 1983). Nests in marshes; in low tree, on the ground in bulrushes or reeds, or on a floating mat. In the Central Valley of California, ibises preferentially selected foraging sites close to emergent vegetation (Safran et al. 2000).

Ecology

Gregarious; flocks of up to at least 290 have been observed, but generally they are much smaller.

Reproduction

Clutch size usually is 3-4. Incubation lasts 21-22 days.
Palustrine Habitats
HERBACEOUS WETLANDFORESTED WETLANDRiparian
Other Nations (2)
CanadaN4B
ProvinceRankNative
AlbertaS2BYes
ManitobaS2BYes
SaskatchewanS4BYes
United StatesN4B,N4N
ProvinceRankNative
North DakotaSUYes
MinnesotaSNRMYes
ColoradoS2BYes
NevadaS3BYes
KansasS2BYes
ArizonaSNRB,S2NYes
MontanaS3BYes
NebraskaS4Yes
South DakotaS2BYes
WashingtonSNAYes
OregonS3BYes
CaliforniaS3Yes
AlabamaSHBYes
MississippiSNAYes
LouisianaS4Yes
ArkansasSNAYes
New MexicoS3B,S4NYes
TexasS3BYes
UtahS3Yes
Navajo NationS5MYes
WyomingS1BYes
MissouriSNAYes
IdahoS3BYes
Roadless Areas (57)
Arizona (3)
AreaForestAcres
NolanApache-Sitgreaves National Forests6,780
PinalenoCoronado National Forest130,920
TumacacoriCoronado National Forest44,594
California (13)
AreaForestAcres
Deep CreekSan Bernardino National Forest23,869
Dobie FlatModoc National Forest15,079
Excelsior (CA)Inyo National Forest45,607
Glass MountainInyo National Forest52,867
Hall Natural AreaInyo National Forest5,236
Hoover - NorthHumboldt-Toiyabe National Forest1,574
Iceberg - Mill CreekHumboldt-Toiyabe National Forest26,988
JuncalLos Padres National Forest12,289
LavasModoc National Forest25,864
Mt. JacksonHumboldt-Toiyabe National Forest20,721
Sespe - FrazierAngeles National Forest4,254
Silver HillHumboldt-Toiyabe National Forest4,423
WoolstaffSequoia National Forest41,445
Colorado (3)
AreaForestAcres
Bristol HeadRio Grande NF46,087
Dome PeakRoutt NF35,716
HermosaSan Juan NF148,103
Idaho (2)
AreaForestAcres
Bear CreekCaribou-Targhee National Forest118,582
PalisadesCaribou-Targhee National Forest122,002
Missouri (1)
AreaForestAcres
Irish Rare II Study AreaMark Twain National Forest1,226
Montana (5)
AreaForestAcres
Allan Mountain (01946)Bitterroot National Forest104,184
Bear - Marshall - Scapegoat - SwanLewis and Clark National Forest344,022
Bear - Marshall - Scapegoat - SwanLolo National Forest118,485
Freezeout MountainBeaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest97,305
West Big HoleBeaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest133,563
Nevada (4)
AreaForestAcres
Bald Mtn.Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest41,598
Four MileHumboldt-Toiyabe National Forest24,093
Pearl PeakHumboldt-Toiyabe National Forest71,405
Table Mtn. - EastHumboldt-Toiyabe National Forest87,789
New Mexico (2)
AreaForestAcres
Contiguous To Black & Aldo Leopold WildernessGila National Forest111,883
Virgin CanyonSanta Fe National Forest6,068
Oregon (4)
AreaForestAcres
Crane MountainFremont National Forest23,096
Hurricane CreekWallowa-Whitman National Forest1,606
MarshWinema National Forest1,226
Sky Lakes AWinema National Forest3,940
South Dakota (1)
AreaForestAcres
Indian CreekBuffalo Gap National Grassland24,666
Texas (1)
AreaForestAcres
Big CreekNational Forests in Texas1,447
Utah (11)
AreaForestAcres
0419020Ashley National Forest355,684
418025Uinta National Forest32,698
Burch CreekWasatch-Cache National Forest6,938
CottonwoodDixie National Forest6,754
High Uintas (UT)Wasatch-Cache National Forest102,398
Lewis PeakWasatch-Cache National Forest11,616
Moody WashDixie National Forest31,835
Rock CanyonDixie National Forest16,457
Stump CreekCaribou National Forest355
Swan Creek MountainWasatch-Cache National Forest9,390
WellsvilleWasatch-Cache National Forest1,717
Wyoming (7)
AreaForestAcres
Gannett Hills - Spring CreekBridger-Teton National Forest45,462
Grayback RidgeBridger-Teton National Forest295,113
Gros Ventre MountainsBridger-Teton National Forest106,418
Munger MountainBridger-Teton National Forest12,827
PalisadesTarghee National Forest1,121
Salt River RangeBridger-Teton National Forest235,661
Wilderness Study AreaTarghee National Forest51,961
References (27)
  1. American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp.
  2. American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in <i>The Auk</i>]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
  3. Banks, R. C., and M. R. Browning. 1995. Comments on the status of revived old names for some North American birds. Auk 112:633-648.
  4. BirdLife International. 2004b. Threatened birds of the world 2004. CD ROM. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK.
  5. de la Peña, M. R. and M. Rumboll. 1998. Birds of southern South America and Antarctica. Harper Collins Publishers, London.
  6. Dumas, J. V. 2000. Roseate Spoonbill (AJAIA AJAJA). No. 490 IN A. Poole and F. Gill, editors, The birds of North America. The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA. 32pp.
  7. Fleury, B. E., and T. W. Sherry. 1995. Long-term population trends of colonial wading birds in the southern United States: the impact of crayfish aquaculture on Louisiana populations. Auk 112:613-632.
  8. Guicking, D., S. Mickstein, P. H. Becker, and R. Schlatter. 2001. Nest site selection by Brown-hood Gull (Larus maculipennis), Trudeau's Tern (Sterna trudeaui) and White-faced Ibis (Plegadis chivi) in a southern Chilean tule marsh. Ornitologia Neotropical 12:285-296.
  9. Hancock, J. A., J. A. Kushlan, and M. P. Kahl. 1992. Storks, ibises and spoonbills of the world. Academic Press, San Diego, California. iv + 336 text pages.
  10. Henny, C. J., and G. B. Herron. 1989. DDE, selenium, mercury, and white-faced ibis reproduction at Carson Lake, Nevada. J. Wildl. Manage. 53:1032-1045.
  11. Howell, S. N. G., and S. Webb. 1995. A guide to the birds of Mexico and northern Central America. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.
  12. Oberholser, H.C. 1974. The bird life of Texas. 2 vols. Univ. of Texas Press, Austin.
  13. Parker III, T. A., D. F. Stotz, and J. W. Fitzpatrick. 1996. Ecological and distributional databases for neotropical birds. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
  14. Paton, P. W., C. Kneedy, and E. Sorensen. 1992. Chronology of shorebird and ibis use of selected marshes at Great Salt Lake. Utah Birds 8(1):1-19.
  15. Poole, A. F. and F. B. Gill. 1992. The birds of North America. The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. and The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA.
  16. Pratt, H. D., P. L. Bruner, and D. G. Berrett. 1987. A Field Guide to the Birds of Hawaii and the Tropical Pacific. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey. 409 pp. + 45 plates.
  17. Ridgely, R. S. 2002. Distribution maps of South American birds. Unpublished.
  18. Root, T. 1988. Atlas of wintering North American birds: An analysis of Christmas Bird Count data. University of Chicago Press. 336 pp.
  19. Safran, R. J., M. A. Colwell, C. R. Isola, and O. E. Taft. 2000. Foraging site selection by nonbreeding White-faced Ibis. Condor 102:211-215.
  20. Sibley, D. A. 2000a. The Sibley guide to birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
  21. Smith, J. P. 1995. Foraging flights and habitat use of nesting wading birds (Ciconiiformes) at Lake Okeechobee, Florida. Colonial Waterbirds 18:139-158.
  22. Spendelow, J. A. and S. R. Patton. 1988. National Atlas of Coastal Waterbird Colonies in the Contiguous United States: 1976-1982. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Biological Report 88(5). x + 326 pp.
  23. Stiles, F. G. and A. F. Skutch. 1989. A guide to the birds of Costa Rica. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, USA. 511 pp.
  24. Taylor, D. M., C. H. Trost, and B. Jamison. 1989. The biology of the white-faced ibis in Idaho. West. Birds 20:125-133.
  25. Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
  26. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). 1987. Migratory nongame birds of management concern in the United States: the 1987 list. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Migratory Bird Management, Washington, D.C. 63 pp.
  27. Zook, J. L. 2002. Distribution maps of the birds of Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. Unpublished.