The Story
I photographed this Scarlet Ibis (Eudocimus ruber) at Hato El Diamante, near San Luis de Palenque, Casanare, Colombia, in January 2020. It lives in tropical South America and part of the Caribbean, and it is one of the two national birds of Trinidad and Tobago. Adults are almost entirely scarlet, apart from inky black tips on the longest wing feathers. Young birds are gray, brown and white, and a diet heavy in red crustaceans brings out the scarlet color. It feeds in wet, muddy places but builds its nest in trees well above the water, on islands when it can. IUCN lists it as Least Concern, though its numbers are believed to be falling.
I made this frame with a Pentax K-1 and the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6, at 1/2500 sec, f/6.3, ISO 1600. It has protected status around the world, and Brazil includes it on its national list of endangered species.
©2020 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Scarlet Ibis (Eudocimus ruber) belongs to the family Threskiornithidae (Ibises and Spoonbills) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2025), with the population trend listed as decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List
