Thread: Wood Storks on the Mermentau

That is neat ! We've been seeing some solid brown bec crosse looking birds . They look like young bec crosse but they are solid dark brown , their long curved beaks are dark brown too . Never seen those before now either .

Originally Posted by JiggerMan

That is neat ! We've been seeing some solid brown bec crosse looking birds . They look like young bec crosse but they are solid dark brown , their long curved beaks are dark brown too . Never seen those before now either .

Bec crosse? Apologies...Not sure what that reference is... Brown with curved beak could be a glossy Ibis or maybe a cormorant, just a guess from your description.

Originally Posted by Squiggyfreud

Bec crosse? Apologies...Not sure what that reference is... Brown with curved beak could be a glossy Ibis or maybe a cormorant, just a guess from your description.

Yes a bec crosse is an ibis I think . The ones over here are light brown with yellow beaks when they are young . When they get older they turn white and still have the yellow beaks .

The ones we've been seeing are dark brown , almost black with dark colored beaks .

Bec crosse means crooked beak and I'm sure you've heard of gros bec , that means big beak or nose. The spelling may not be exactly right .

Advocate article on the Wood Stork.

Charterboat captain Ed Pitre teaches kids about deep sea fishing | Outdoors | The Advocate — Baton Rouge, LA

Heard on the radio today that they have a bunch at the sherburne south farm and wildlife and fisheries is hosting a public bird watching session, Saturday I think. It said to call the Opelousas office of LDWF for more info. I've seen a few the last few years, hear there are only a few thousand in the world.

There is actually a wood stork and wading bird event tomorrow at Sherburne WMA, been held for a few years. LDWF is draining the south farm ponds and they will congregate in there. You can google the event or check on the audubon website if interested.

Brown ibis - the young white ibis are born brown and eventually molt and get their white feathers but look light brown and mottled for a few months. We do have two other species, the glossy ibis and the white-faced ibis. They are nearly indistinguishable but the white-faced has a red eye. White-faced are much more common and widespread and the glossy is less common and its range is pretty confined. South Louisiana is a world-class birdwatchers paradise especially in the next couple of months when the fields are being drained and the shorebirds start migrating back through. The tourism business is starting to capitalize on this with birdwatchers and naturalists. There are no shortage of tour boats running around in the basin and in the swamps!

edit - sorry just saw bleedingduck post on the event

The crawfish ponds are full of them by the house and yes they are hugh birds with ugly heads

Every once in a while we see a few fly over our farm. Probably headed to nearby rice field/ crawfish ponds.