Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus
Ocean City, New Jersey
Like a living, breathing, squawking statue of some ancient god, wrought in copper and other rarer metals, this ibis pauses in a seaside Juniper Tree, a Virginia Creeper sending forth new tendrils in the foreground. Our bird is in full breeding plumage, and the iridescent colors, usually duller and darker in anything but ideal light, show to advantage.