Crested Ibis

Crested Ibis (Nipponia nippon) is a white ibis washed pink in the wings, with a red bare face, long downcurved bill and flowing crest feathers. Body shape, bill structure, plumage pattern and voice provide the strongest field characters. Age, sex and season may alter its appearance, so identification should combine several features and careful direct field comparisons with similar species in the same habitat (Wikipedia, general species account).

It probes wet soil and shallow water for invertebrates and small vertebrates; reintroduction has restored free-living birds to Sado Island and the Noto Peninsula in East Asia. Its movements and social behaviour vary through the year, with breeding birds generally more dispersed and non-breeding birds gathering where food is concentrated. The Korean vertebrate catalogue used for this guide records the species in South Korea (Wikipedia, general species account; Wildlife of Korea occurrence records).