Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: IUCN Status: VULNERABLE

This bird, along with various other species, are free to roam in part of the Tropical building at the Calgary Zoo. While we do not get these birds in the wild, if one is lucky, one can see a White-faced Ibis on various slough locations outside Calgary, such as Frank Lake, SE of the city. Both species have such gorgeous, iridescent feathers. This photo was taken on 6 October 2015. “The southern bald ibis (Geronticus calvus) is a large bird found in open grassland or semi-desert in the mountains of southern Africa. This large, glossy, blue-black ibis has an unfeathered red face and head, and a long, decurved red bill. It breeds colonially on and amongst rocks and on cliffs, laying two or three eggs which are incubated for 21 days before hatching. It feeds on insects, small reptiles, rodents and small birds. The ibises are gregarious long-legged wading birds with long down-curved bills; they form one subfamily of the Threskiornithidae, the other subfamily being the spoonbills. The two Geronticus species differ from other ibises in that they have unfeathered faces and heads, breed on cliffs rather than in trees, and prefer arid habitats to the wetlands used by their relatives.” From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_bald_ibis www.arkive.org/southern-bald-ibis/geronticus-calvus/

In the early afternoon of 7 November 2014, I drove over to the east end of Fish Creek Provincial Park and was lucky enough to see two of these beautiful Rusty Blackbirds. IUCN Status: Vulnerable. I very rarely see these birds – in fact, I think I have only ever seen one once before and no photos. It was interesting to watch this one pick up and then toss aside endless fallen leaves along the edge of a tiiny creek, to check underneath them for food. Eventually, it did find a big, fat, juicy water worm of some kind, and ate it. As you can see from the photo, this bird is camouflaged quite well in those surroundings. “The Rusty Blackbird is one of North America’s most rapidly declining species. The population has plunged an estimated 85-99 percent over the past forty years and scientists are completely puzzled as to what is the cause. They are relatively uncommon denizens of wooded swamps, breeding in the boreal forest and wintering in the eastern U.S. In winter, they travel in small flocks and are identified by their distinctive rusty feather edges and pallid yellow eyes.” From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/rusty_blackbird/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rusty_blackbird rustyblackbird.org/

In the early afternoon of 7 November 2014, I drove over to the east end of Fish Creek Park and was lucky enough to see two of these beautiful Rusty Blackbirds. IUCN Status: Vulnerable. I very rarely see these birds, so I’m always glad when I do see one. It was interesting to watch this one pick up and then toss aside endless leaves to check underneath them for food. Eventually, it did find a big, fat, juicy water worm of some kind, and ate it. As you can see from the photo, this bird is camouflaged quite well in those surroundings. “The Rusty Blackbird is one of North America’s most rapidly declining species. The population has plunged an estimated 85-99 percent over the past forty years and scientists are completely puzzled as to what is the cause. They are relatively uncommon denizens of wooded swamps, breeding in the boreal forest and wintering in the eastern U.S. In winter, they travel in small flocks and are identified by their distinctive rusty feather edges and pallid yellow eyes.” From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/rusty_blackbird/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rusty_blackbird rustyblackbird.org/

Early afternoon on 7 November 2014, I drove over to the east end of Fish Creek Park and was lucky enough to see two of these beautiful Rusty Blackbirds. IUCN Status: Vulnerable. I rarely see these birds, so I’m always glad when I do see one. It was interesting to watch this one pick up and then flip one leaf after another, to check underneath them for food. Eventually, it did find a big, fat, juicy water worm of some kind, and eat it. “The Rusty Blackbird is one of North America’s most rapidly declining species. The population has plunged an estimated 85-99 percent over the past forty years and scientists are completely puzzled as to what is the cause. They are relatively uncommon denizens of wooded swamps, breeding in the boreal forest and wintering in the eastern U.S. In winter, they travel in small flocks and are identified by their distinctive rusty feather edges and pallid yellow eyes.” From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/rusty_blackbird/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rusty_blackbird rustyblackbird.org/

These birds, along with other species, are free to roam in part of the Tropical building at the Calgary Zoo. While we do not get these birds in the wild, if one is very lucky, one can see a White-faced Ibis on various slough locations outside the city, such as Frank Lake, SE of the city. I've posted a previously posted photo of a wild White-faced Ibis in a comment box below. Both species have such gorgeous, iridescent feathers. The photo above was taken on 3 November 2014. Not sure I’ve ever seen this captive bird perched in a tree (indoors) before. IUCN Status is Vulnerable. “The southern bald ibis (Geronticus calvus) is a large bird found in open grassland or semi-desert in the mountains of southern Africa. This large, glossy, blue-black ibis has an unfeathered red face and head, and a long, decurved red bill. It breeds colonially on and amongst rocks and on cliffs, laying two or three eggs which are incubated for 21 days before hatching. It feeds on insects, small reptiles, rodents and small birds. The ibises are gregarious long-legged wading birds with long down-curved bills; they form one subfamily of the Threskiornithidae, the other subfamily being the spoonbills. The two Geronticus species differ from other ibises in that they have unfeathered faces and heads, breed on cliffs rather than in trees, and prefer arid habitats to the wetlands used by their relatives.” From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_bald_ibis www.arkive.org/southern-bald-ibis/geronticus-calvus/