The ibises () (collective plural ibis; classical plurals ibides and ibes) are a group of long-legged wading

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

s in the family Threskiornithidae, that inhabit wetlands, forests and plains. "Ibis" derives from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

and

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

word for this group of birds. It also occurs in the scientific name of the cattle egret (''Bubulcus ibis'') mistakenly identified in 1757 as being the sacred ibis.

Description

Ibises all have long, downcurved bills, and usually feed as a group, probing mud for food items, usually

crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group can ...

s. They are monogamous and highly territorial while nesting and feeding. Most nest in trees, often with spoonbills or herons. All extant species are capable of

flight Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight). This can be a ...

, but two extinct genera were flightless, namely the kiwi-like ''

Apteribis ''Apteribis'' is an extinct genus of flightless birds in the ibis subfamily that was endemic to the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean. Distribution The remains of the small ibises in the genus have only been found on the islands of Maui, Lan ...

'' in the Hawaiian Islands, and the peculiar '' Xenicibis'' in

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

. The word ''ibis'' comes from

''ibis'' from

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

ἶβις ''ibis'' from Egyptian ''hb'', ''hīb''. Beekes, R. S. P. (2009) ''Etymological Dictionary of Greek'', Brill, p. 575. .

Species in taxonomic order

There are 29 extant species and 4 extinct species of ibis. An extinct species, the Jamaican ibis or clubbed-wing ibis (''Xenicibis xympithecus'') was uniquely characterized by its club-like wings.

In culture

The African sacred ibis was an object of religious veneration in ancient Egypt, particularly associated with the deity Djehuty or otherwise commonly referred to in Greek as

Thoth Thoth (; from grc-koi, Θώθ ''Thṓth'', borrowed from cop, Ⲑⲱⲟⲩⲧ ''Thōout'', Egyptian: ', the reflex of " eis like the Ibis") is an ancient Egyptian deity. In art, he was often depicted as a man with the head of an ibis or ...

. He is responsible for writing, mathematics, measurement and time as well as the moon and magic. In artworks of the Late Period of Ancient Egypt, Thoth is popularly depicted as an ibis-headed man in the act of writing. However, Mitogenomic diversity in sacred ibis mummies indicates that ancient Egyptians captured the birds from the wild rather than farming them. At the town of Hermopolis, ibises were reared specifically for sacrificial purposes and in the Ibis Galleries at

Saqqara Saqqara ( ar, سقارة, ), also spelled Sakkara or Saccara in English , is an Egyptian village in Giza Governorate, that contains ancient burial grounds of Egyptian royalty, serving as the necropolis for the ancient Egyptian capital, Memphis ...

, archaeologists found the mummies of one and a half million ibises. According to local legend in the

Birecik Birecik; ku, Bêrecûk is a town and district of Şanlıurfa Province of Turkey, on the Euphrates. Built on a limestone cliff 400 ft. high on the left/east bank of the Euphrates, "at the upper part of a reach of that river, which runs near ...

area, the

northern bald ibis The northern bald ibis, hermit ibis, or waldrapp (''Geronticus eremita'') is a migratory bird found in barren, semi-desert or rocky habitats, often close to running water. This glossy black ibis, which, unlike many members of the ibis family, i ...

was one of the first birds that Noah released from the Ark as a symbol of fertility, "Dreams of a feathered ''Geronticus''" and a lingering religious sentiment in Turkey helped the colonies there to survive long after the demise of the species in Europe. The mascot of the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, i ...

is an American white ibis named Sebastian. The ibis was selected as the school mascot because of its legendary bravery during hurricanes. According to legend, the ibis is the last of wildlife to take shelter before a hurricane hits and the first to reappear once the storm has passed.

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

's humor magazine, ''

Harvard Lampoon ''The Harvard Lampoon'' is an undergraduate humor publication founded in 1876 by seven undergraduates at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Overview The ''Harvard Lampoon'' publication was founded in 1876 by seven undergraduates ...

'', uses the ibis as its symbol. A copper statue of an ibis is prominently displayed on the roof of the

Harvard Lampoon Building The Harvard Lampoon Building (sometimes referred to as the Lampoon Castle) is a historic building in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which is best known as the home of ''The Harvard Lampoon'', and for its unusual design. Architecture and design The b ...

at 44 Bow Street. A short story " The Scarlet Ibis" by James Hurst uses the red bird as foreshadowing for a character's death and as the primary symbol. The African sacred ibis is the unit symbol of the Israeli Special Forces unit known as Unit 212 or Maglan (Hebrew מגלן). According to Josephus, Moses used the ibis to help him defeat the Ethiopians. The

Australian white ibis The Australian white ibis (''Threskiornis molucca'') is a wading bird of the ibis family, Threskiornithidae. It is widespread across much of Australia. It has a predominantly white plumage with a bare, black head, long downcurved bill and blac ...

has become a focus of art, pop culture and memes since rapidly adapting to city life in recent decades, and has earned the popular nicknames 'bin chicken' and 'tip turkey'. In April 2022, Queensland sports minister Stirling Hinchliffe suggested the ibis as a potential

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...

for the 2032 Olympic Games which are scheduled to be held in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

. Hinchcliffe's suggestion prompted much discussion in the media.

Gallery

File:Black-headed Ibis (Threskiornis melanocephalus).jpg,

Black-headed ibis The black-headed ibis (''Threskiornis melanocephalus''), also known as the Oriental white ibis, Indian white ibis, and black-necked ibis, is a species of wading bird of the ibis family Threskiornithidae which breeds in the South and Southeas ...

File:Blackheadedibis.jpg,

File:Australian White Ibis Bird (6603467963).jpg,

File:White Ibis (Eudocimus albus) RWD2.jpg, American white ibis File:Eudocimus ruber -Cubatao, Sao Paulo, Brazil -flying-8a.jpg, Scarlet ibis File:Black Ibis- Hodal I IMG 9701.jpg, Black ibis File:Threskiornis spinicollis-fragment.jpg, Straw-necked ibis File:Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus) in AP W IMG 3918.jpg,

Glossy ibis The glossy ibis (''Plegadis falcinellus'') is a water bird in the order Pelecaniformes and the ibis and spoonbill family Threskiornithidae. The scientific name derives from Ancient Greek ''plegados'' and Latin, ''falcis'', both meaning "sickle" a ...

File:Waldrapp Geronticus eremita.jpg,

Northern bald ibis The northern bald ibis, hermit ibis, or waldrapp (''Geronticus eremita'') is a migratory bird found in barren, semi-desert or rocky habitats, often close to running water. This glossy black ibis, which, unlike many members of the ibis family, i ...

File:Southern Bald Ibis (Geronticus calvus) (29865447691).jpg,

Southern bald ibis The southern bald ibis (''Geronticus calvus'') is a large bird found in open grassland or semi-desert in the mountains of southern Africa. Taxonomically, it is most closely related to its counterpart in the northern regions of Africa, the waldra ...

File:Zwei_Fleckenibisse_in_der_Demokratischen_Republik_Kongo_von_Niklas_Weber,_Version_b.jpg, Spot-breasted ibis File:Hadada or Hadeda Ibis, Bostrychia hagedash at Borakalalo National Park, South Africa (9868786884).jpg, Hadada ibis

Notes

References

External links

Ibis videos
– at Internet Bird Collection * {{Authority control Threskiornithidae Taxa named by Franz Poche Paraphyletic groups