Sometimes called the more cosmopolitan ibis, the Glossy Ibis, is the most widespread ibis species. It can be found in South, North and Central America, southern Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. In the US it primarily lives along the Atlantic coast but can also be found in a variety of inland wetlands.
bises have curved, slender bills that they use to probe into shallow water, mud or grass when foraging. Ibises are gregarious birds that live, travel and breed in flocks. In flight, they form diagonal lines or V-formations. This formation decreases wind resistance for trailing birds.
The glossy ibis is a heron-like bird with a long, curving beak. They breed in parts of southern and southeast Europe and are occasional visitors to the UK. However, in recent decades sightings here have become more common, mirroring an increase in their breeding population in southwest Europe.
Flocks of Glossy Ibises wade in the shallows of eastern marshes, probing for food with their sickle-shaped bills. Widespread in the Old World, the species is found in the New World mainly in the West Indies and along our Atlantic Coast, especially Florida, where it was quite scarce as recently as the 1930s. It may have invaded within the last few centuries, riding the trade winds across from West Africa to the Caribbean.
Withdraws from northern part of breeding range in winter. Migrates in flocks, moving south relatively early. Singles and small flocks sometimes wander far north and inland, especially in spring and summer.
Marshes, rice fields, swamps. Forages in shallow waters, favoring marshes (either fresh or salt), flooded fields, shallow ponds, estuaries. Nests in low stands of willows and other shrubs surrounded by marsh, on ground in spartina marsh, in dense thickets of trees and shrubs on higher ground, sometimes in mangroves.
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