Ibis Crabbing

Yesterday afternoon we were watching some white ibis that were picking around in the salt marsh. The ibis will typically eat small fish, shrimp, and other marine crustaceans.

Here, this one ibis picked out a crab for itself and proceeded to crunch that down. The crab may have been rather tiny but the ibis seemed quite happy with it’s seafood snack!

39 thoughts on “Ibis Crabbing”

pviette on February 22, 2013 at 12:32 pm said:

Oh my, so it does ! It looks so pleased.

Reply ↓
- Phil Lanoue on February 22, 2013 at 1:27 pm said:
  
  I was happy with it’s tiny catch!
  
  Reply ↓
Beedie on February 22, 2013 at 12:41 pm said:

What BEAUTIFUL shots Phil!

Reply ↓
- Phil Lanoue on February 22, 2013 at 1:27 pm said:
  
  Thanks I’m happy you enjoyed them!
  
  Reply ↓
adinparadise on February 22, 2013 at 12:46 pm said:

That’s a tiny morsel for such a big beak, but I suppose every bit helps. 🙂

Reply ↓
- Phil Lanoue on February 22, 2013 at 1:28 pm said:
  
  At lot of times they eat things so small I can’t even see them. But if they do that for a few hours I guess they get filled up. They always look quite well fed. 🙂
  
  Reply ↓
Rexlin Victor on February 22, 2013 at 12:46 pm said:

Wow, so nice!!!

Reply ↓
- Phil Lanoue on February 22, 2013 at 1:28 pm said:
  
  Thanks glad you like them!
  
  Reply ↓
janmasyn on February 22, 2013 at 1:44 pm said:

Beautiful shots of this white Ibis.

Reply ↓
- Phil Lanoue on February 22, 2013 at 2:16 pm said:
  
  Thank you very much Jan.
  
  Reply ↓
lylekrahn on February 22, 2013 at 2:16 pm said:

Makes sense. Food makes me happy!

Reply ↓
- Phil Lanoue on February 22, 2013 at 2:17 pm said:
  
  Me too! In fact we had fresh made crab cakes just last weekend. That ibis has the right idea.
  
  Reply ↓
mike585 on February 22, 2013 at 2:36 pm said:

Nice isolation of the ibis, Phil.

Reply ↓
- Phil Lanoue on February 22, 2013 at 2:40 pm said:
  
  Thanks Mike, I had to wait for his friend behind him to get out of the way. It was throwing an unwanted white reflection onto the water in the background.
  
  Reply ↓
  - mike585 on February 22, 2013 at 2:41 pm said:
    
    It worked well, Phil.
    
    Reply ↓
dinajohnston on February 22, 2013 at 4:19 pm said:

Perfect contrast on ibis. It’s so hard not to blow out those whites. Love the action with the little crab.

Reply ↓
- Phil Lanoue on February 22, 2013 at 8:34 pm said:
  
  Thanks very much! I wanted to try to keep detail in the white and so I let the background go a bit dark.
  
  Reply ↓
toughlittlebirds on February 22, 2013 at 4:40 pm said:

Great photos! It’s neat how in the first picture you can see that the crab is trying to threaten the ibis – it’s got its claws extended and raised. Too bad for it that the ibis is a thousand times bigger and not a bit scared.

Reply ↓
- Phil Lanoue on February 22, 2013 at 8:36 pm said:
  
  Thanks so much glad you liked these!
  Occasionally, crabby wins one. Check out this series from back in Sept. 🙂
  https://phillanoue.com/2012/09/26/crabby-1-night-heron-0/
  
  Reply ↓
  - toughlittlebirds on February 22, 2013 at 8:42 pm said:
    
    Thanks, that’s a hilarious sequence! How neat to have both outcomes for crab predation attempts. I’m glad it’s not a totally unfair fight on either side – makes it suspenseful!
    
    Reply ↓
    - Phil Lanoue on February 22, 2013 at 8:44 pm said:
      
      Ha! Yes it does add some suspense! Even the little crabs will sometimes refuse to give up and continue not just fighting, but really giving it to their attacker! 🙂
      
      Reply ↓
Gunta on February 22, 2013 at 5:13 pm said:

I still have a problem imagining how they get that crab up that long beak to the mouth without a helping hand or finger. Toss it in the air and gulp it down? Or does the crab go willingly to the gullet? But they are still really wonderful, gorgeous shots regardless.

Reply ↓
- Phil Lanoue on February 22, 2013 at 8:38 pm said:
  
  You should see one catch a big blue crab. Some ibis will leave the bigger crabs alone and others will go for it.
  We watched on ibis systematically dismantle a big crab piece by piece. It bit off all the legs first and turned it into a hockey puck. It ended up eating most all of the crab. They are determined birds.
  
  Reply ↓
Chillbrook on February 22, 2013 at 6:10 pm said:

So that’s what that beaks for but getting the crab from one end of such a long beak to the other must take some practise.. Do they often drop them once they have them? Smashing images Phil.

Reply ↓
- Phil Lanoue on February 22, 2013 at 8:41 pm said:
  
  The ibis will often pick around in mud using those long curved bills to pick out items such as small crabs which they love. That’s why we call them “muddy ibis” 🙂
  Check out this series from last summer:
  https://phillanoue.com/2012/07/25/muddy-ibis/
  Oh and yes they drop crabs and fish all the time.
  
  Reply ↓
Patrizia M. on February 22, 2013 at 6:14 pm said:

Piccolo ma buono, per questo era felice!!
Bellissimi scatti Phill
Ciao, Pat

Reply ↓
- Phil Lanoue on February 22, 2013 at 8:42 pm said:
  
  Lui era molto felice di avere quel piccolo granchio! 🙂
  Grazie Pat
  
  Reply ↓
Bella Remy Photography on February 22, 2013 at 8:46 pm said:

Mighty small crab for a big bill like yours.

Reply ↓
- Phil Lanoue on February 23, 2013 at 10:40 am said:
  
  They need those long curved bills to poke around in the mud. That’s where all the real *tasty* stuff lives. 🙂
  
  Reply ↓
Andrew on February 23, 2013 at 5:40 am said:

For some reason WP had “Unfollowed” me from your blog Phil. Bizarre. And that explains why I haven’t seen your posts recently. Fabulous ibis shots!!!

Reply ↓
- Phil Lanoue on February 23, 2013 at 10:41 am said:
  
  Thanks for checking in Andrew. I have heard from others that are having problems with new blog posts not showing up in their reader. Hopefully WP gets it straightened out.
  
  Reply ↓
Laurie MacBride, Eye on Environment on February 23, 2013 at 11:28 am said:

What fabulous shots, Phil!

Reply ↓
- Phil Lanoue on February 24, 2013 at 11:10 am said:
  
  Thanks Laurie, I appreciate you looking and commenting!
  
  Reply ↓
roughseasinthemed on February 23, 2013 at 3:27 pm said:

I didn’t realise birds smiled until I saw this series of happy ibis shots. Oddly just been commenting about fruits de mer with another blogger, although shellfish that people eat rather than crabs that birds eat. Those tiny crabs are quite soft shelled are they not?

Reply ↓
- Phil Lanoue on February 24, 2013 at 11:14 am said:
  
  He did look happy with his tasty catch. There were a few ibis in the area and they were all pulling things out of the mud and the water, most it quite small but I guess if they eat enough they get filled up. They sure don’t look skinny or underfed. 🙂
  They are fully capable of cracking the hard shell of even a full size blue crab. Those bills must be more powereful then they appear.
  
  Reply ↓
Molly Argo on February 23, 2013 at 7:54 pm said:

What a happy attitude she has. Bless her heart, I hope she was able to catch a few more. The photos are great, as expected!

Reply ↓
- Phil Lanoue on February 24, 2013 at 11:14 am said:
  
  Well I’m very happy you enjoyed these Molly, thanks!
  
  Reply ↓
The Wanderlust Gene on February 25, 2013 at 12:25 am said:

Fantastic series, Phil – mostly because of the beauty and technical balance of the shots.

Reply ↓
- Phil Lanoue on February 25, 2013 at 9:21 pm said:
  
  Thank you much! I’m glad you enjoyed these photos! 🙂
  
  Reply ↓