Plegadis falcinellus                                                  Photo Fiona Sunquist ©

Glossy ibis are large birds, about 25 inches tall with a 36-inch wingspan. They have a long, slender, down-curved bill, and grayish-green legs.

In the breeding season their plumage is iridescent dark-green and purple, non-breeding birds have duller feathers with white streaks on the neck.

In Florida, glossy ibis nest between March and June, on the ground on coastal islands or in shrubs and trees over water. They sometimes nest in mixed colonies with herons and other wading birds.

These ibis are less commonly seen than most of Florida’s other wading birds—a 1986-1989 survey counted some 3,000 breeding glossy ibis in the state.

Glossy ibis prefer freshwater marshes, swamps and flooded rice fields and mangroves; they use their long curved bill to probe for insects, small fish and aquatic invertebrates.

The glossy ibis is the most widespread ibis species in the world, found in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. It is thought to have invaded the US in the last couple of hundred years, perhaps blown by trade winds from Africa to the Caribbean.

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