Scarlet Ibis coming in to roost

Sightings
One of the highlights of a visit to the Caroni Swamp in Trinidad is to watch Scarlet Ibis coming in to roost in the late afternoon. Sitting in a boat in bright sunlight, it is an amazing spectacle to see hundreds of these attractive birds crossing the inland waters to get to their colonies. On this occasion, the evening was cloudy which meant that we did not get the full evening light on these birds and my photos therefore do not really show the birds at their best.

Species
Scarlet Ibis Eudocimus ruber is a monotypic species of the family Threskiornithidae which includes spoonbills and ibis. It is structurally very similar to other ibis species and very similar to American White Ibis Eudocimus albus differing only in pigmentation and considered by some to be a subspecies of E. albus.

Status and Distribution
It is a species of least concern with a decreasing population in its large range. Colonies are found throughout vast areas of South America and the Caribbean islands. Native flocks exist in Brazil; Colombia; French Guiana; Guyana; Suriname; and Venezuela, as well as the islands of the Netherlands Antilles, and Trinidad. Flocks gather in wetlands and other marshy habitats, including mud flats, shoreline and rainforest. The species is an abundant resident in the mangrove swamps of west Trinidad with some movement to and from south America. There have been no recent documented records from Tobago.

References
BirdLife; Wikipedia; World Bird Names; Kenefick, M., Restall, R., and Hayes, F. (2015) Birds of Trinidad and Tobago, Bloomsbury Publishing, page 58

Photograph
Photographed in late afternoon light at 1/1000th of a second at f5.6 and ISO 5000