Weird peach-colored ibis in Portobelo Bay
A report by Octavio Ríos:
El pasado 20 de Abril en horas de la tarde me encontraba realizando una gira de Kayak en los manglares del área de Portobelo. Ya les habia comentado que había visto algo que parecia un Scarlet Ibis y después de un año lo pude ver nuevamente. En este caso le pude tomar fotos las cuales adjunto.
Habia un grupo de White Ibis y sólo uno color rosa. Como no tenia binoculares en ese momento no pude ver detalles pero me parece algún tipo de inmaduro.
Discusion:
- The closest to Panama that Scarlet Ibis is normally found is in the lower Magdalena Valley in Colombia.
- White Ibis and Scarlet Ibis hybridize often in areas where their ranges overlap in Venezuela and Colombia, leading some scientists and experts to consider them a single species composed of two subspecies.
- Hybridization was first documented in Florida, where Scarlet Ibis eggs were introduced from Trinidad in 1961. The first hybrids were pink and salmon colored.
- In colonies where hybridization occurs, "the color of the Scarlet Ibis [...] varied from light orange to scarlet."
- Scarlet Ibis is commonly kept in captivity, and those that ara fed inadequate amounts of beta-keratin turn pink, making them difficult to differentiate from hybrids.
- Photos of these pink Scarlet Ibis, either faded or hybrid, are pretty much nonexistent in Google. Here's a pink one from Florida
And here are some mottled ones from a zoo in Singapore
Ergo:
This is clearly not a regular White Ibis. Beyond that, all we can do is speculate, having no experience with either hybrid or faded Scarlet Ibis. But the only reference to light orange plumage we've seen is the one about the hybrid birds in Colombia and Venezuela. All we're saying. Any insights would be most appreciated.