Ibises and spoonbills · Pelicans and herons
Glossy Ibis
Copied!
Plegadis falcinellus
Copied!
Voice
Call
Call
How to recognize it
-
48–66 cm, slightly larger than a pigeon
-
Dark brown body with green-bronze sheen
-
Long downcurved bill, red-brown legs
-
In flight the neck is stretched out, often in a line
About the species
The glossy ibis looks quiet and understated, but in good light its plumage shows a dark, metallic sheen. Young ones look softer and paler, with fine light streaking on the head and neck that fades as they grow up.
It usually moves in flocks and flies with its neck stretched out. Its voice is not loud, mostly low croaks and grunts, with a rough grrrr in the breeding season.
It lives around shallow water, marshes, floodplains, and wet meadows, and may also feed in rice fields and damp grassland. It eats aquatic invertebrates, and sometimes fish and amphibians; most European ones winter in Africa, while the species is present in southern Russia only in the south.
Where to find
-
Along shallow pond edges, canal banks, and reed-fringed shallows — Glossy Ibis feeds by wading slowly and probing the mud with its downcurved bill.
-
At marshy lake margins and wet meadows after rain — look for short, deliberate steps as it picks through soft ground.
-
By reservoirs or drainage ponds with dense reeds — especially in the early morning, when small flocks are standing knee-deep in water.
-
In old riverside groves and mature city trees near wetlands — at dusk it may settle high in the canopy to roost.
