The ibises are a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae. They all have long, down-curved bills, and usually feed as a group, probing mud for food items, usually crustaceans.
Fast Facts about Ibises
1. Ibis are most well known for their long necks and beaks which help them to get food out of the water.
2. Ibis are often associated with wetlands in tropical and subtropical habitats, but some species like to live out in open meadows, farmlands, and grasslands, while others prefer forests and woodlands.
3. Ibis are generally very sociable birds that gather together in large flocks both to feed and to find a partner during the mating season.
4. Although the ibis is an omnivorous bird that eats both plants and animals, when there are plenty of aquatic species about, the ibis has more carnivorous diet.
5. The ibis hunts fish, insects, small reptiles, frogs, small mammals and crabs,which the ibis picks out of the mud using it’s long and pointed beak.
6. During the mating season, the female ibis builds a nest in the trees that is made out of sticks and reeds.
7. The female ibis lays up to the 3 eggs which hatch after an incubation period of just a few weeks.
8. The tiny ibis chicks are dependent on their mother for food, and develop quickly meaning that they leave the nest when they are about 6 weeks old.
9. Due to the relatively large size of the ibis, it has few natural predators besides large birds of prey that often steal the eggs of the ibis, or the young. Snakes are known to eat the ibis around the world, along with wild cats and foxes.
10. Ibises may live as long as 16 years in the wild, and 20 years in captivity.
