Bird of the Day: White-faced Ibis at Merced National Wildlife Refuge

We've seen a White-faced Ibis (Plegadis chihi) before on these pages, but today is a twofer. Our recent visit at the Merced National Wildlife Refuge was a visual treat as usual, and we saw several dozen of these beautiful birds hanging out near the auto-tour road.

The White-faced Ibis is the only species of Ibis in the California region, although a second species is rapidly spreading from the east, having expanded into Texas so far. They are beautiful, if odd-shaped birds!

Those red eyes do freak me out just a little bit, though...