Straw-necked Ibis

Scientific Name: Threskiornis spinicollis

Population Estimate: 1M

Range / Habitat: Wetlands, pasture and grasslands of northern and eastern Australia, parts of Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea.

Field Notes: Black back, wings and head with white neck and underparts. Long yellow plumes on neck. Glossy Ibis with no white and Australian White Ibis with white back and wings.

Personal Notes: Photograph taken in Canberra, Australia.

Australian Ibis

Scientific Name: Threskiornis molucca

Population Estimate: Unknown, but Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Wetlands and artificial habitats throughout much of Australia, parts of Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands.

Field Notes: Large, white ibis with bare black head and neck, black bill, and black plumed tail feathers. Straw-necked Ibis has black back and wings.

Personal Notes: Ubiquitous at Sydney Royal Botanical Gardens.

Nankeen Night Heron

Scientific Name: Nycticorax caledonicus

Population Estimate: 110K - 1.1M

Range / Habitat: Inland wetlands and coastal areas throughout Australia except the arid inland, Indonesia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and Melanesia.

Field Notes: Stocky, rufous heron with white underparts and a black cap. As typical with herons, the juvenile form is completely streaked brown and white as in the lower photo. Black-crowned Night Heron (which only overlaps in Indonesia and the Philippines) has dark grey wings and back. 

Personal Notes: Seen at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Melbourne, Australia. Also known as Rufous Night Heron.

Saddle-billed Stork

Scientific Name: Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis

Population Estimate: 1-25K

Range / Habitat: Wetlands throughout sub-Saharan Africa.

Field Notes: Very tall stork with white and black plumage, black head and neck, and distinctive red and black bill as above.

Personal Notes: Seen at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

Painted Stork

Scientific Name: Mycteria leucocephala

Population Estimate: 25K, Near Threatened status

Range / Habitat: Wet areas in mainland southeast Asia.

Field Notes: Large white stork with long, decurved yellow bill, yellow face, pink tertial feathers. Unmistakable in range.

Personal Notes: Seen at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

Abdim's Stork

Scientific Name: Ciconia abdimii

Population Estimate: 300-600K

Range / Habitat: Open, grassland habitats throughout sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Arabia.

Field Notes: Smallest stork with brown / grey head and back, white belly, blue face mask.

Personal Notes: Seen at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

African Spoonbill

Scientific Name: Platalea alba

Population Estimate: 11-110K

Range / Habitat: Found in a variety of wetland habitats in sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar.

Field Notes: Large, all white wading bird with distinctive large, flat spoon-shaped bill. Bright pink legs and face mask.

Personal Notes: Seen at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

Marabou Stork

Scientific Name: Leptoptilos crumeniferus

Population Estimate: 200-500K

Range / Habitat: Found in both wet and arid habitats, often near people, throughout sub-Saharan Africa

Field Notes: Large stork with one of greatest wingspans of any bird. Bare head and neck as it is a scavenger. Black back, white underparts. Unmistakable in range.

Personal Notes: Seen at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

Wood Stork

Scientific Name: Mycteria americana

Population Estimate: 38K - 130K

Range / Habitat: Freshwater, brackish and salt marshes, often wooded. Ranges from western Mexico and southeastern US down to western Ecuador and northern Argentina.

Field Notes: Head and neck naked. Black primaries and secondaries prominent in flight, but covered by white when standing as below. Unmistakable in range.

Personal Notes:

Jabiru

Scientific Name: Jabiru mycteria

Population Estimate: 10K-25K, but Least Concern status

Range / Habitat: Locally common in parts of the Yucatan, Belize, Guatemala. Resident down through South America with largest populations in Brazil and Paraguay. Prefers wetlands and seasonally flooded grasslands.

Field Notes: The largest flying bird in the Americas, males can stand 1.5m. Unmistakable.

Personal Notes: We were fortunate to witness this breeding pair constructing a nest at Aquacate in Belize. There had not been been a breeding pair at this site for several years.

Western Cattle Egret

Scientific Name: Bubulcus ibis

Population Estimate: 3.8M to 7.6M

Range / Habitat: Found throughout most of the US, Mexico, Central America, and South America. Preferred habitat is in fields, near cattle. Rarely seen near the water.

Field Notes: Stocky white heron with sturdy yellow bill and dark legs. Readily distinguished from other white herons by habitat. Great Egret much larger with elongated neck. Snowy Egret slimmer with black bill and yellow feet.

Personal Notes:

Little Blue Heron

Scientific Name: Egretta caerulea

Population Estimate: 300K to 450K

Range / Habitat: From southeastern US through Mexico, Central American and into northern South America in marsh and costal areas.

Field Notes: Small, active heron. Grey-blue throughout with head and neck darker, occasionally more purple or reddish (as in the top photo). Eyes yellow, bill grey with distal portion black. Legs and feet greenish. Great Blue Heron much larger. Tricoloured Heron is similar size but has distinctive white belly and rump. Juvenile is entirely white but differentiated from the Snowy Egret by its pale green legs. Reddish Egret with distinctly cinnamon head and neck, white eyes, pink base to bill, and grey legs and feet.

Personal Notes:

Snowy Egret

Scientific Name: Egretta thula

Population Estimate: 400K to 1.4M

Range / Habitat: Year round in South America and coastal areas to the north. Summers they move up into the United States and in winter retreat into Mexico and Central America. Nearly always found near water.

Field Notes: Slight white heron with fine, wispy feathers and dark bill. The black legs with yellow feet are unmistakable. Great Egret is larger with yellow bill. Cattle Egret is stocky, in different habitat, with yellow bill and dark feet.

Personal Notes: We loved the top photo as the long-fine feathers got caught in the wind....

White-faced Ibis

Scientific Name: Plegadis chihi

Population Estimate: 1.2M

Location of Sighting: San Blas, Mexico

Date of Sighting: January, 2010

Notes: White-faced Ibis is the bird on the right (bottom photo). Cattle egret on the left. Also seen in one of the most unlikely of places: Mesquite Spring in the middle of Death Valley. A single random ibis. 

Yellow-crowned Night-heron

Scientific Name: Nyctanassa violacea

Population Estimate: 76K-160K

Range / Habitat: Summer in eastern US, more commonly in the south. Year-round resident of costal Mexico and Central America down into parts of South America. Found in mangrove swamps, salt marshes, freshwater lakes, and other wetland areas.

Field Notes: Medium-sized, stocky heron with black face and bill, white cheek patch and yellowish crown stripe. Body grey and legs yellow. Black-crowned Night-heron all white underneath, including neck. Juvenile (lower photo) grey-brown with spots on wings and indistinct streaking on chest.

Personal Notes:

Roseate Spoonbill

Scientific Name: Platalea ajaja

Population Estimate: 100K to 250K

Range / Habitat: Prefers brackish costal marshes and lagoons, less frequently around fresh water. Ranges from both coasts of Mexico, though Central America, and down to central Argentina.

Field Notes: Unmistakable in range.

Personal Notes: We saw the top pair nesting at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

Bare-throated Tiger-heron

Scientific Name: Tigrisoma mexicanum

Population Estimate: 50K to 500K

Range / Habitat: Freshwater and mangrove habitats from both slopes of Mexico down through Central America.

Field Notes: Large, stocky, solitary heron with grey face, black cap, yellow throat, and intricately patterned neck and back. Juveniles have bolder pattern, more cinnamon coloring. Males have a booming roar.

Tricolored Heron

Scientific Name: Egretta tricolor

Population Estimate: 290K

Range / Habitat: Year-round in marine intertidal areas, mangrove swamps, inland wetlands of costal Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic coast of southeastern US, Pacific coast of Mexico, Caribbean islands, and northern coast of South America. Some birds will winter inland in central Mexico and Central America.

Field Notes: Medium-sized, slender heron. Distinctive purple neck and head, blue body, white belly. White plume on back of head during breeding season. Little Blue Heron similar color and size but lacks white belly. Great Blue Heron much larger.

Personal Notes: Seen as part of amazing birding along the Rio Cuale in Puerto Vallarta. Later seen as a "native" among several exotics at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

Boat-billed Heron

Scientific Name: Cochlearius cochlearius

Population Estimate: 500K to 5M

Location of Sighting: San Blas, Mexico

Date of Sighting: January, 2010

Notes: Nocturnal heron with remarkably large bill.

American White Ibis

Scientific Name: Eudocimus albus

Population Estimate: 150K

Range / Habitat: Year-round in shallow coastal marshes, wetlands, and mangrove swamps along the Gulf Coast, Atlantic coast of US as far north as the Carolinas, throughout Florida and the Caribbean, both coasts of Mexico and Central America as far south as Columbia and Venezuela.

Field Notes: Medium-sized white wading bird with black wing tips, long decurved red bill and red legs. Unmistakable in range.

Personal Notes: Seen in Cancun and Orlando.