Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge lies in northern Utah, where the Bear River flows into the northeast arm of the Great Salt Lake. On the ancestral homelands of the semi-nomadic Shoshone, Paiute, Bannock, and Ute people known as the Newe or Meme (the People), the Refuge protects the marshes found at the mouth of the Bear River. Surrounded by arid desert lands, these marshes are the largest freshwater component of the Great Salt Lake ecosystem and are an oasis for waterbirds and wildlife.

The glossy ibis is a water bird in the order Pelecaniformes (interesting that they are the same as pelicans) and the ibis and spoonbill family Threskiornithidae. The scientific name derives from Ancient Greek plegados and Latin, falcis, both meaning "sickle" and referring to the distinctive shape of the bill.