A bird of beauty One of South America’s iconic avians is the Scarlet ibis (Eudocimus ruber

A bird of beautyOne of South America’s iconic avians is the Scarlet ibis (Eudocimus ruber), also found in the islands of the Caribbean, though there is some dispute over whether it truly forms a separate species or is a sub species of the common white ibis, since they have been proved to cross breed (creating pale orange hybrids), but tradition remains strong as it was initially described as separate by the grandfather of taxonomy, Carl Linnaeus himself. Despite the cross breeding, the two froms still exist in the wild, including in the regions where their ranges overlap.The scarlet colour comes from carotene like substances in their crustacean rich diet and isn’t present in juveniles, but comes in as these waders dip into the water to catch their favourite prey (though they also eat insects). In zoos beetroot or carrots are part of their diet to keep the hue rich and vibrant. They grow to around a half metre long, and live in flocks of 30 or so for roughly a decade and a half. These sub flocks also congregate in groups of many thousands when food resources are plentiful.They can fly long distances chasing wetlands around the seasons, and their range goes from southern Brazil through to Florida, (where they were introduced from the Caribbean), though their main range is the annually flooded grassland plain known as the Llanos in Colombia and Venezuela (see http://bit.ly/2oMZ7ML).LozImage credit: Ricardo Moraes/Reuters -- source link

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