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Re: Glossy Ibis decline



We just returned from a 3 day trip to the Outer Banks where we did not see a
lot of Ibis..but we saw more Glossy than White..about 10:1..quite a change
from last & recent years.

> From: Harry Legrand <harry.legrand@ncmail.net>
> Date: Wed, 14 May 2003 07:52:32 -0400
> To: Shantanu Phukan <phukan@email.unc.edu>
> Cc: Carolina Birds <carolinabirds@duke.edu>
> Subject: Re: Glossy Ibis decline
> 
> Yes, Glossy Ibises have declined in NC over the past few decades. But,
> unlike with most other breeders (such as Neotropical migrating
> songbirds), this decline might not be a global one. Rather, Glossies
> have shifted their population farther northward in recent years,
> increasing in states to our north, such as New Jersey. My take is that
> they are outcompeted for nesting spots in rookeries by the more
> agressive White Ibis, which formerly nested in NC only at Battery Island
> but now breeds northward to at least Virginia. (White Ibises are also
> moving northward, though I don't see a decrease in NC.) Glossies are
> fairly "wimpy" as nesters, easily getting out-competed by other species
> for nesting sites, and easily getting wiped out by bad weather. White
> Ibises are "tough as nails", and it takes a lot of competition,
> predation, or weather to knock them out.
> 
> So -- habitat for Glossies in NC doesn't seem to have been lost over the
> years so much as the population on the Atlantic coast has shifted more
> to the north, maybe because of pressure from the White Ibis (or other
> wading birds). Glossies are now uncommon, and I certainly don't see
> nearly the numbers, such as at Bodie-Pea Islands, that I did a few
> decades ago.
> 
> Harry LeGrand
> 
> Shantanu Phukan wrote:
>> 
>> Yesterday afternoon I got permission from The Food Lion at Emerald Isle to
>> clmb up to the roof and to take a census on the Least Tern breeding colony
>> that Alan Johnston has reported on in the past. So both Alan and I went up
>> to the roof and were edified to find not the fifty or so Least Terns that
>> Alan had estimated earlier, but a whopping 320. I dont mean 320 pairs but
>> rather individuals. Some of these 320 were part of a pair since they were
>> feeding each other fish. The eggs, which were a brownish grey with brown
>> speckles were laid in the gravel on the roof and had not as yet hatched.
>> Every once in a while laughihg Gulls would fly over and though they did
>> not seem intent on grabbing the eggs, the roosting terns would nonetheless
>> spook and fly up in the air in a swarm. Very Bracing.
>> 
>> On my way back from Emerald Isle I stopped at Fort Fisher today and was
>> further edified to find a flock of seven beautiful Glossy Ibises feeding
>> by the Basin Trail. I mention this because in four years of going to Ft
>> Fisher I have only seen Glossies there once before and that was alone
>> individual. Does anyone know if Glossies are declining in North Carolina,
>> my impression is that they are rather rare.
>> 
>> Shantanu Phukan
>> 
>> *****************************************************
>> SHANTANU PHUKAN
>> Lecturer in Urdu-Hindi & Indian Literature
>> University of N. Carolina, Chapel Hill
>> Curriculum in Asian Studies
>> Alumni Hall 413C
>> Chapel Hill, N.C. 27599
>> 
>> phukan@email.unc.edu
>> 919-962-6825
>> *****************************************************
> 
> -- 
> Harry LeGrand
> NC Natural Heritage Program
> DENR   Office of Conservation and Community Affairs
> 1615 MSC
> Raleigh, NC 27699-1615
> (919) 715-8687 (work)
> FAX: 919-715-3085
> e-mail: harry.legrand@ncmail.net