The Story
I photographed this Buff-necked Ibis (Theristicus caudatus) near La Macarena, Meta, Colombia, in February 2021. Its neck is buffish, its upperparts gray, its belly and flight feathers black, and it has a large white patch on each wing. It lives in open habitats, including fields, marshes, savanna and grassland, across eastern and northern South America. It is also known as the White-throated Ibis. In flight its fairly short legs do not reach beyond the tail, and it is almost entirely resident. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I used a Canon R5 with the RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L for this one, at 1/1500 sec, f/6.7, ISO 800. Flooded forest covers about 13 percent of La Macarena National Park, mostly along the Guayabero River.
©2021 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Buff-necked Ibis (Theristicus caudatus) 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 stable. Source: IUCN Red List