{"id":47871,"date":"2017-08-02T05:35:55","date_gmt":"2017-08-02T11:35:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=47871"},"modified":"2025-02-11T04:50:20","modified_gmt":"2025-02-11T10:50:20","slug":"white-faced-ibis-at-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/08\/02\/white-faced-ibis-at-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/","title":{"rendered":"White-faced Ibis at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> was calling me yesterday morning and I answered that call and photographed several White-faced Ibis from the auto tour route.<\/p>\n

\"White-facedWhite-faced Ibis settling its feathers – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

White-faced Ibis may look brown from a distance but when the sunlight hits them just right it exposes a rainbow of colors in their plumage.<\/p>\n

\"PreeningPreening adult White-faced Ibis – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The White-faced Ibis at the refuge are no longer in their breeding plumage and they lack the white markings on their faces but they are still quite colorful. I wanted to share this photo because I can see a heart shape in it, can you?<\/p>\n

White-faced Ibis are here in large numbers during the summer.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

It is believed that we have the largest breeding population of this species out in the marshes of the Great Salt Lake and I have to say that sometimes the skies here are filled with them early in the morning as they make their way to their feeding grounds.<\/p>\n

Their calls remind me of an “oink” but AllAboutBirds.org describes the sound as a nasal moaning “urm”. Have a listen here<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"White-facedWhite-faced Ibis wing lift – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/1250, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

The group of White-faced Ibis I photographed yesterday were pretty cooperative, normally I get photos of their tails as they fly away.<\/p>\n

I’m always happy to photograph White-faced Ibis when they are here in Utah or when I am up in Montana. They aren’t here year round and I actually miss them, their curved bills, their odd calls and their colorful plumage when they are gone.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my White-faced Ibis photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge was calling me yesterday morning and I answered that call and photographed several White-faced Ibis from the auto tour route.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":139743,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[124,27,1148,26,1372],"tags":[4004,5025,3721,5148,4094,4246,1373,4019,4740,2315,313,3996,4095,4340,4135],"class_list":["post-47871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-utah","category-white-faced-ibises","tag-adult","tag-feathers","tag-ibis","tag-ibises","tag-marsh","tag-nonbreeding-plumage","tag-plegadis-chihi1","tag-preening-2","tag-settling","tag-summer-3","tag-wading-birds","tag-water","tag-wetlands","tag-white-faced-ibis","tag-wing-lift"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/white-faced-ibis-stretching-mia-mcpherson-0657.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-cs7","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":57380,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/04\/22\/white-faced-ibis-with-a-wet-head-at-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":47871,"position":0},"title":"White-faced Ibis With A Wet Head At Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 22, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"This White-faced Ibis had been feeding in the shallow water and had gotten its head soaking wet right before I photographed it and the ibis was in the process of getting ready to shake the water from its head feathers.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"White-faced Ibis with a wet head, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, 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2020","format":false,"excerpt":"When White-faced Ibis are in breeding plumage it is easy to see how they got their common name, in nonbreeding plumage, not so much.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Perched adult White-faced Ibis in breeding plumage, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/white-faced-ibis-breeding-plumage-mia-mcpherson-7409.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/white-faced-ibis-breeding-plumage-mia-mcpherson-7409.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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