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The scarlet ibis, sometimes called red ibis (Eudocimus ruber), is a species of ibis in the bird family Threskiornithidae. It inhabits tropical South America and part of the Caribbean. In form, it resembles most of the other twenty-seven extant species of ibis, but its remarkably brilliant scarlet coloration makes it unmistakable. It is one of the two national birds of Trinidad and Tobago, and its Tupi–Guarani name, guará, is part of the name of several municipalities along the coast of Brazil.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
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 some scientists have moved to reclassify it as a subspecies of a more general American ibis species, along with its close relative, the American white ibis (Eudocimus albus).
TaxonomyEdit
The species was first classified by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. Initially given the binomial nomenclature of Scolopax rubra<ref name=Colonial1987/> (the name incorporates the Latin adjective ruber, "red"), the species was later designated Guara rubra and ultimately Eudocimus ruber.<ref name=Avibase>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Biologically the scarlet ibis is very closely related to the American white ibis (Eudocimus albus) and is sometimes considered conspecific with it,<ref name=Colonial1987>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name=Cornell2009>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> leaving modern science divided over their taxonomy. The two birds each have exactly the same bones, claws, beaks, feather arrangements and other features – their one marked difference lies in their pigmentation.<ref name=Zahl1954>Template:Cite book</ref> Traditional taxonomy has regarded the two as separate and distinct.<ref name=Zahl1954/>
Early ornithological field research revealed no natural crossbreeding among the red and white, lending support to the two-species viewpoint.<ref name=Zahl1954/> More recent observation, however, has documented significant crossbreeding and hybridization in the wild. Researchers Cristina Ramo and Benjamin Busto found evidence of interbreeding in a population where the ranges of the scarlet and white ibises overlap along the coast and in the Llanos in Colombia and Venezuela. They observed individuals of the two species mating and pairing, as well as hybrid ibises with pale orange plumage, or white plumage with occasional orange feathers, and have proposed that these birds be classified as a single species.<ref name=Colonial1987/> Hybridization has been known to occur frequently in captivity. However, the two color forms persist in the wild despite overlapping ranges and hybrid offspring having a distinctive color type, so according to the cohesion species concept they would be functionally different species.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Some biologists now wish to pair them with Eudocimus albus as two subspecies of the same American ibis.<ref name=Colonial1987/> Others simply define both of them as one and the same species, with ruber being a color variation of albus.<ref name=Nellis>Template:Cite book</ref>
DescriptionEdit
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 color. A small but reliable marking, these wingtips are a rich inky black (or occasionally dark blue) and are found only on the longest primaries<ref name=UWI2011>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> – otherwise the birds' coloration is "a vivid orange-red, almost luminous in quality."<ref name=Moss42>Template:Cite book</ref> Scarlet ibises have red bills and feet; however, the bill is sometimes blackish, especially toward the end.<ref>Ridgway, Robert. “Upon the Close Relationship Between the White and Scarlet Ibises(Eudocimus Albus and E. Rubber).” The Auk 1. 3 (1884): 239-240.</ref> They have a long, narrow, decurved bill. Their legs and neck are long and extended in flight.<ref>McWilliams, Gerald M, and Daniel W. Brauning. The Birds of Pennsylvania. Ithaca, N.Y: Cornell University Press, 2000. Print.</ref>
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.<ref name=RossZoo>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The color 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.<ref name=UWI2011/> The scarlet ibis is the only shorebird with red coloration in the world.
Adults are Template:Convert long,<ref name=Peterson/> and the males, slightly larger than females, typically weigh about Template:Convert.<ref name=UWI2011/> Their bills are also on average around 22% longer than those of females.<ref name=babbit>Template:Cite journal</ref> The life span of the scarlet ibis is approximately sixteen years in the wild and twenty years in captivity.<ref name=UMMZ>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> An adult scarlet ibis has a wingspan of around Template:Convert.<ref name=UWI2011/> Though it spends most of its time on foot or wading through water, the bird is a very strong flyer:<ref name=RossZoo/> they are highly migratory and easily capable of long-distance flight. They move as flocks in a classic V formation.<ref name=UWI2011/>
Distribution and habitatEdit
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 Brazil; Colombia; French Guiana; Guyana; Suriname; and Venezuela, as well as the islands of the Netherlands Antilles, and Trinidad and Tobago.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" /> Flocks gather in wetlands and other marshy habitats, including mud flats, shoreline and rainforest.<ref name=UWI2011/> Outlying colonies have been identified in the coastal areas of the states of Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo (for example in the Santos-Cubatão mangroves of the Baixada Santista district), Paraná and Santa Catarina.<ref name=olmos01>Template:Cite journal</ref> In recent years, bird colonies can be seen as far south as in the coastal areas of Joinville and the island of São Francisco do Sul.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The highest concentrations are found in the Llanos region of western Venezuela and eastern Colombia. The fertile and remote tropical grassland plain of the Llanos provides a safe haven far from human encroachment.<ref name=Moss42/> Together with its relative the bare-faced ibis, the scarlet ibis is remarkably prolific and conspicuous in the region.<ref name=HiltySchauensee>Template:Cite book</ref>
Scarlet ibis vagrants have been identified in Belize, Ecuador, and Panama; Aruba, Cuba, Dominica, Grenada, and Jamaica; sightings have even been made in the United States.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" /> The species may well have been a natural vagrant to the Gulf Coast in the 19th century or earlier – in The Birds of America, John James Audubon made brief remarks regarding three rubra specimens he encountered in Louisiana.<ref name= "Audubon|">Template:Cite book</ref> However, virtually all modern occurrences of the species in North America have been introduced or escaped birds. In one notable example from 1962, scarlet ibis eggs were placed in white ibis nests in Florida's Greynolds Park, and the resulting population hybridised easily, producing "pink ibises" that are still occasionally seen.<ref name=Peterson>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="zahl67">Template:Cite journal</ref>
BehaviorEdit
BreedingEdit
Mating pairs build nests in a simple style, typically "loose platforms of sticks"<ref name=RossZoo/> of a quality described as "artless".<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> They roost in leaf canopies, mostly preferring the convenient shelter of young waterside mangrove trees.<ref name="NHL Stenden">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref>Herons and Relatives. Animals: A Visual Encyclopedia. London: Dorling Kindersley Publishing, Inc., 2008. Credo Reference. Web. 17 September 2012.</ref>
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.<ref>Zahl (1954), p. 194.</ref> After a gestation period of five to six days,<ref name=UWI2011/> the female lays a clutch of three to five smooth, matte eggs which typically incubate for 19–23 days.<ref name=UMMZ/><ref name=Zahl195>Zahl (1954), p. 195.</ref> After a successful courtship, pairs remain faithful and cohabitant, sharing parental responsibilities for the young.<ref name=UWI2011/>
In southeastern Brazil, the ibises 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.<ref name=olmos01/>
FeedingEdit
Their distinctive long, thin bills are used to probe for food in soft mud or under plants.<ref name=Moss42/> Popularly imagined to be eating only shrimp, a recent study in the Llanos has found that much of their diet consists of insects, of which the majority were scarabs and ground beetles.<ref name=Condor1993 /> One species in particular, a scarab beetle Dyscinetus dubius, formed a large part of the diet.<ref name=Condor1993 /> Other insect prey include water beetles and water bugs.<ref name=UWI2011 /> In contrast, the diet of the co-occurring American white ibis there differed, the latter consuming more bugs, fish and crustaceans.<ref name=Condor1993>Template:Cite journal</ref>
– Dr. Paul A. Zahl, Coro-Coro <ref>Zahl, p. 188.</ref>
They do, however, eat much shrimp and other similar fare like ragworms (Nereis), mollusks (such as Melampus), small crabs (Aratus, Uca and Ucides) and other crustaceans, such as crayfish.<ref name=UWI2011/><ref name=RossZoo/><ref name=UMMZ/><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> 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.<ref name=RossZoo/><ref name=Krinsky>Template:Cite book</ref> Frogs, small snakes, small fish (Cichlidae), fruits and seeds are also occasional prey items for scarlet ibises.<ref name=UWI2011/><ref name=UMMZ/><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> When kept in zoos, the birds' diet often contains beetroot and carrot supplement to maintain color vibrancy in their plumage.<ref name=RossZoo/>
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. They have also been observed trailing white-faced whistling ducks (Dendrocygna viduata) and domestic livestock, and catching insects disturbed by them.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Social behaviorEdit
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 thirty or more. Members stay close, and mating pairs arrange their nests in proximity to other pairs in the same tree.<ref name=UWI2011/>
For protection, flocks often congregate in large colonies of several thousand individuals.<ref name=UWI2011/> They also regularly participate in mixed flocks, gaining additional safety through numbers: storks, spoonbills, egrets, herons and ducks are all common companions during feedings and flights.<ref name=UWI2011/>
StatusEdit
The species has protected status throughout the world,<ref name=RossZoo/> and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has classified the scarlet ibis as a species of Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" /> Though several local populations appear to be in decline, global totals remain relatively large and the current rate of losses is not considered a threat to the species' survival.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" /> Nonetheless, recent losses by established populations in French Guiana have become a concern for conservationists, and in Brazil the bird has been included on a national list of endangered species.<ref name=HancockKushlan2010>Template:Cite book</ref>
Relationship with humansEdit
The scarlet ibis and the rufous-vented chachalaca, popularly known as the cocrico, are the national birds of Trinidad and Tobago respectively.<ref name=NatlBird>National Bird, Trinidad and Tobago Ministry of Foreign Affairs].</ref> Both birds are featured on the coat of arms of Trinidad and Tobago.<ref name="NatlBird"/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The cocrico is found on Tobago, Venezuela and Colombia.<ref name=NatlBird/> The scarlet ibis is associated with Trinidad; there are not documented records of the scarlet ibis on Tobago for the last fifteen years.<ref>Martyn Kenefick, Robin Restall & Floyd Hayes, Helm Field Guides: Birds of Trinidad and Tobago (2007), p. 58.</ref>
An important local habitat for the scarlet ibis is the wildlife sanctuary of Caroni Swamp of Trinidad, a Template:Convert wetland reserve first designated in 1953 specifically to provide a habitat for the scarlet ibis.<ref name="SalmClark">Template:Cite book</ref>
Using the bird as a literary symbol, American author James Hurst composed a popular short story, "The Scarlet Ibis" (1960).<ref name=Moss42/> A more recent short story, "Scarlet Ibis" by Margaret Atwood, is included in Bluebeard's Egg (1983).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The name also belongs to a book of verse by American poet Susan Hahn.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- Eudocimus ruber 01 - Young bird.jpg
Juvenile
- Scarlet Ibis SMTC.jpg
The wing tips are black
- Scarlet ibis (Eudocimus ruber).jpg
- Scarlet ibis (Eudocimus ruber) roosting.jpg
Roosting, Caroni Swamp, Trinidad
- Scarlet Ibis 2010.ogv
Video of a Scarlet ibis
ReferencesEdit
Further readingEdit
- Journey to Red Birds by Jan Lindblad (New York: Hill and Wang; 1969).