I saw this couple feeding ibis at a little park along US-1 (Gawd, I love US-1) while I was in Titusville for the Bird Festival.
Not only was it just my kind of loopy, quirky, Floridiosyncratic thing, BUT ... I was fascinated by the question ... "What do you toss to ibis?"
Mole crickets?
Earthworms?
Beetle grubs?
How about crushed peanuts?
When I asked the nice lady in the picture, she said it all started when they brought peanuts to feed the squirrels and the ibis joined in.
I never would have guessed that.
You won't see stuff like this at 75 mph on I-95.
This is just one reason I love old US-1 as it snakes along the east coast of Florida.
I hovered nearby and snatched some shots of the ibis as they impersonated pigeons.
Yo! Got peanuts!
Pinkacaphony!
Legs! Bills!
It's a pink thing.
Did I mention I love US-1?
Beyond bizarre! Then again, why should nuthatches have all the fun?
ReplyDeleteEndlessly more cool than either squirrels or pigeons, both of which annoy us daily.
ReplyDeleteWow! They can eat peanuts with those bills? Who woulda thunk it...
ReplyDeleteYeah, so much better than pigeons. Up here in NW Georgia they would be remarkable because we just don't have them. On the other hand, we used not to have seagulls, way back when I was a little kid, and now we do. Maybe some day we'll get ibis.
ReplyDeleteMuch nicer than Pidgeons...they even help keep the lawn clean and aeriated.
ReplyDeleteand they like cheetos...maybe not the best diet, but still...
ReplyDeleteWAY cooler than the flying rats or the tree rats!
ReplyDeletePeanuts. Ibis. Does not compute. We had an extralimital purple gallinule when I lived in Connecticut. It was hanging out under an apple tree in somebody's back yard, eating little green apples. Inviting a gastroingallinule attack, if you ask me.
ReplyDeleteHow'm I doin'? Better?
Hi Anne!
ReplyDeleteI agree,totally wonderfully weird.
3C,
I knew a starving park ranger once who used a tiny blow gun to harvest "squab" from the city park in the center of St.Augustine. Just for the record, this was not me.
Deb,
I know. It was neat in a surreal sorta way.
Mark,
Are the seagulls at your landfill? They may be "island hopping" inland that way.
Carol,
They really are and really do aereate soil. Lots of little beak holes left after a session.
Darla,
The crunchy small ones I hope. I never liked the puffy ones. LOL
Ericka,
Waaaay.
I think this couple were pretty cool too. What a neat discovery on their part.
Julie,
I like it! You have great potential. We must keep tweaking the mother tongue so she stays perky.
They're risking gastroenteribis.
ReplyDeleteThat one took nine hours to come up with.
I'm a bit surprised that ibis would eat peanuts, but free food is free food. Highway 1 does look like a nice ride. Here too on the left coast!
ReplyDeleteUS1 south from Titusville has lots of those little parks and boatlaunches.Makes it easy to stop and survey the water for cool birds! And there is a Krystal on US1 as well that has the friendliest employees ever {and tasty jalapeno krystal burgers).
ReplyDeleteLast year at Sebastian Inlet SP, I was stunned to see a flock of wood storks line up at a fish cleaning station for handouts! That was pretty bizarre.
Your comparison to pigeons was apt. In my South Tampa neighborhood, groups of white ibises plod through the lawns and along the curbs, scavenging for food just as pigeons do. So much prettier, though.
ReplyDeleteJulie,
ReplyDeleteOh my ... that one was worth the wait! Why am I not surprised that you would be good at this too?
Robin,
Ahh, your lefty One is legendary for scenery. I have not had the pleasure of that.
Myamuh,
Begging ironheads... THAT I have never seen.
Adapting beats extinction any day.
And Krystals ... when I was a sprout they also made some bodacious fried chicken.
Dan,
Definitely prettier. I would love some lawn ibis.
Neat post and I love the Ibis. I would never have imagined that they liked peanuts. I would much rather see the Ibis then squirrels. Great photos.
ReplyDeleteFC, I most often see the gulls in a parking lot, snarfing up people food litter. I had assumed that the gulls followed the rivers and lakes upstream. Maybe they use the landfills along the way as rest stops.
ReplyDeleteIt's amusing but are we sure it's a good thing? Birds are notorious for not always knowing what's good for them, diet-wise. We literally stopped selling popcorn at the zoo during cold months because we couldn't get people to stop throwing it for the animals. In this case, I think Diverticulibis is a real possibility.
ReplyDeleteBravo, bravissimo.
ReplyDeleteIf they were eating boiled peanuts then we'd have Southern birds for sure!
ReplyDeleteDUDE! This is one of the biggie reasons my homesickness is so exacerbated whenever I'm down Tampa Bay way. An osprey on every pole and an ibis (or 30) in every yard!
ReplyDeleteI thought of you when I posted my mad today. Figger you're the one who'll know if there are any redeeming factors involved in said manatee excursions. >:\
wv:datdodit
LOL!
FLblogger,
ReplyDeleteBoiled ones are too addicting to share.
Sophie,
I saw that Groupon deal too the other day.
I have only snorkeled with manatees on my own without a "group package" so I can't judge them from first hand experience.
In general, the whole Crystal River scened makes me sad, because the river is not "crystal" anymore.
So many people have moved on top of it that with their fertilized yards and septic tanks that what was gin clear water in the 70's is murky green with filamentous algae covering what was a sparkling white sand/rock bottom.
*sigh*
ReplyDeleteyeah