Wildlife Watching Wednesday: The Wetland-Loving White Ibis
By: Tom Berg
The American white ibis is a fairly large wading bird of the southeastern United States, and especially of the Gulf Coast. As their name implies, they are mostly white in color, although the tips of their wings are black. The black wingtips are most easily seen while they are in flight. Their long legs and curved bill are reddish-pink, and they have a patch of red skin on their face around their eyes.
The white ibis is strange-looking, indeed, with its extremely long, curved bill. The ibis uses this long bill to probe the sand and mud of the shallows where it hunts for crustaceans, worms, snails, minnows and other small fish. Surprisingly, when newborn white ibises hatch their bills are actually straight. But by the time they are two weeks old their bills start to curve downward, just like the bills of their parents.
Groups of white ibises can be seen wading in shallow water almost year-round along beaches in Florida and other Gulf states. They also search for food in freshwater wetlands and marshes, ponds, creeks and even flooded agricultural fields. When their bill touches a potential food item underwater, they quickly snap it up. They are amazingly adept at distinguishing between edible and inedible items, even when it is buried in a few inches of mud!
White ibises nest in colonies in trees similar to herons, and they build their nests out of sticks and tree branches. The male brings the majority of the nesting materials to the female and she does most of the nest-building. White ibis eggs are cream-colored with a blue-green tint, with splotchy brown spots on them. Most clutches include 2-5 eggs and both parents take turns incubating them.
The male white ibis is very protective of his mate and of their nest. If other ibises get too close, the male will try to scare off the intruders or even attack them. Luckily, attacks are not necessary very often. Believe it or not, one of the main reasons other males get too close is because they want to steal a few sticks from the defender’s nest so they can add them to their own nest!
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