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Australian Wildlife

  Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus)





Glossy Ibis | Plegadis falcinellus photo
Glossy Ibis

Image by AndrĂ© Karwath - Some rights reserved.    (view image details)







GLOSSY IBIS FACTS

Description
The Glossy Ibis is a small dark coloured ibis. The neck is dark reddish brown and the body is dark brown with a metallic sheen on the wings. The long curved bill is olive brown, and the legs and feet are brown. It has a white line around the eyes.

Size
52cm

Habitat
wetlands, floodplains, mangroves, mudflats

Food
frogs, snails, aquatic insects and other invertebrates

Breeding
The Glossy Ibis nest is a platform of sticks lined with aquatic plants built between branches of tree or shrub growing in the water. They breed in colonies with other species of ibis and other water birds.

Range
The Glossy Ibis is found in suitable habitat throughout much of the Australian mainland. It is most common in northern Australia and is only a non-breeding visitor to Tasmania and south-west of Western Australia.

distribution map showing range of Plegadis falcinellus in Australia

Credits:
Map is from Atlas of Living Australia website at https://biocache.ala.org.au licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.



Classification
Class:Aves
Order:Ciconiiformes
Family:Threskiornithidae
Genus:Plegadis
Species:falcinellus
Common Name:Glossy Ibis