Nearly always you will see the wood ibis-I am taking as a guide my own experience of the bird as I know it here in coastal Carolina-flying high in the air, or resting in compact flocks on the marshes or the tidal flats, or roosting in the woods of the barrier islands, or of the cypress lagoons on the mainland. You will seldom-unless you are very fortunate-see ibises feeding near at hand. In feeding, the flocks often scatter, the birds going singly or in couples to their favorite feeding places. They seek their dinners generally at low tide. Into the deep tidal creeks which wind everywhere through the marshes empty innumerable lesser creeks or gullies, full of water when the tide is at the flood, but dry or almost dry at the ebb. In these small, muddy, winding marsh brooks the wood ibis finds an inexhaustible supply of mullet and shrimp, and it is there that he feeds when the tide is running out and the water is shallow enough for the tall bird to take his stand in the midst of the stream.
Sometimes he will stand motionless, his long, heavy, curved bill partly submerged, the mandibles gaping slightly until suddenly his bill snaps shut and he lifts out a fish. Sometimes he scratches about with his feet apparently to muddy the water and force the fish to the surface to be seized instantly and quickly devoured. But it is only by good luck or very careful stalking that you will get close to him at such a time. He is a wary feeder, constantly on the watch for enemies; and, as a rule, the marsh brooks in which he feeds, hidden from view by the tall marsh grass lining the high banks, are too narrow and shallow for navigation at low tide, while to approach him overland across the boggy surface of the marsh is nearly always impossible.
Only in the deep woods of some fresh-water lagoon, to which the ibises resort when the tides have covered the marshes, may you hope to approach so close to them as to hear the wild music of their pinions as the whole great company of them take flight. Very rarely on the marshes, where cover is lacking, you may enjoy a similar experience; and I remember a summer day a few years ago when we ran almost into a flock of fifty-two wood ibises resting beside a marsh creek at a point where the marsh grass hid our approaching boat from view.
Suddenly and as if by magic, the marsh ahead of us sprang to life as the big birds surged upward, long necks outstretched, long legs dangling, pinions desperately beating the air. We heard the swish and surge of wild wings then; but it was only by luck that we caught those marshland ibises napping, and such fortunate chances are rare.
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David is the author of many articles including Best Friend Quotes and also the author of Best life quotes
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