One of the more surprising things that arose when trying to encourage my local BRC to modernize (along with the parent org), was how forcefully the Status Quo Preservation Society proclaimed "that everything is actually fine, and that there is no evidence to suggest that everything isn't already perfect".
In reality, I didn't think it would be fun (or nice) to highlight specific issues. At the time.
May 2005. Point Pelee Birding Area.
Thankfully there was a group of seven experts, who in the winter of 2005-2006, each independently voted to confirm that the above bird was, in fact, a Glossy Ibis. Wait, it wasn't reviewed in time for the 2005 report (published in late August 2006). It was actually reviewed in the winter of 2006-2007 so it took ~28 months before it was finally memorialized in print by the OBRC.
Fast forward to October 17, 2026. Quinten Wiegersma posts in the Great Lakes Bird Study Group discord...
First winter Glossy/White-faced Ibis Identification ?
To shorten as much as possible. He notes that publications often note young plegadis ibis are unidentifiable in their first fall. Several recent records in Ontario are noted (or eBird accepted) as Glossy Ibis. Birders DO note features they use to separate some individuals at this time of year, but he's unaware of instances where these ID criteria have been published. He also notes how the status of White-faced Ibis has been changing over the last 20 years, and that hybrids may be increasing.
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Wouldn't it be interesting if the Ontario birding community, or dare I say, the OBRC - had provided some valuable insights on this identification question over the past ~45 years?
Glossy Ibis is no longer a review species - given the prevailing sentiment that the OBRC might become relevant again, if only there were less records to review. We now have an eBird database with apparent Glossy Ibis accepted as White-faced and apparent White-faced Ibis accepted as Glossy. Interestingly that second example was actually rejected as Glossy Ibis by the OBRC (but accepted as "plegadis" ibis... I guess that's the value of being an Ontario-wide ebird reviewer...). I won't get into the handful of accepted Glossy/White-faced Ibis records that can be identified to species...
During my time on the OBRC, we had a Glossy Ibis report that seemed like a possible hybrid, but the current chair of the SQPS pushed a rather interesting take. Just accept it as a "plegadis ibis" which, technically, would include a hybrid. Therefore we could just ignore the question and move on. Field ornithology at its finest.
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At the time of writing, Quinten's excellent question has solicited a grand total of three "fire" emoticons and no written responses. I'm no ibis expert, but I could respond with my impressions, in the hopes that the conversation actually kicks off - or even that someone else might jump at the opportunity to highlight if something I said was incorrect. While the GLBSG has received some solid praise, I really thought it was the lowest rung of a ladder our community could climb. Responses on discord are eventually lost to the bowels of the internet.
Unfortunately OFO and the OBRC continue to party like it's 1999, and our provincial "birding" community is using an alternate discord server (OBA) that only cares about listing. I'll get into those more in the future, but for now, I just wish there was some organized institutional effort to actually promote field ornithology and the sharing of experience & expertise.
Advanced knowledge becomes general knowledge when given the time to grow. In the modern world, we have lost meaningful learning for quick hits of random trivia to distract our brains. I really don't mind if other people aren't interested in these topics. The issue is the swaths of the community (the SQPS, half of the OFO board, the OBA moderators, etc.) are going out of their way to squash our interest in field ornithology. Our, as in, the small subset of us who enjoy the learning & study parts of birding.
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