15/04/2021
WONDER & WANDER WESTERN VISAYAS!
The colorful Glossy ibis (Plegadis falcinellus), a rarely seen migratory bird in the country made its first recorded touchdown on November 29, 2020 in the wetlands of Iloilo City.
A team from Conservation and Development Division (CDD) in Region 6 was fortunate to have spotted the Glossy ibis (Plegadis falcinellus) for the second time during the conduct of the bird watching and bird counting activity on February 2, 2021 in light to the celebration of this year's World Wetlands Day at Hinactacan wetlands in La Paz, Iloilo City.
It is a wading bird with global range and is most widespread of all ibis species, but very rarely observed in the Philippines.
This rare visit to the Hinactacan wetlands must have been due to the fact that migratory birds are always in search of best ecological conditions and habitats where they can feed, nest or breed.
Glossy ibis is known to breed in scattered sites in warm regions of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and the Atlantic and Carribean regions of the Americas. They are long-legged, with long bills that are sometimes mistaken as Eastern curlew and forage quite close together in open fresh marshes but are also seen in brackish and saltwater marshes, mudflats, mangrove swamps, wet agricultural fields, lake, shallow river and pond edges.
