ibis

Any of various wading birds, about 60 cm/2 ft tall, belonging to the same family as spoonbills. Ibises have long legs and necks, and long, downward-curved beaks, rather blunt at the end; the upper part is grooved. Their plumage is generally black and white. Various species occur in the warmer regions of the world. (Family Threskiornidae, order Ciconiiformes.)

The scarlet ibis (Guara ruber), a South American species, is brilliant scarlet with a few black patches. The scarlet colour is caused by an accumulation of pigment from the aquatic invertebrates that it feeds on.

The glossy ibis (Plegadis falcinellus) occurs in the southeastern US and in all continents except South America. The Japanese ibis is in danger of extinction because of loss of its habitat; fewer than 25 birds remain. The sacred ibis (Threskiornis aethiopica) of ancient Egypt is still found in the Nile basin. The northern bald ibis Geronticus eremita is one of the world's rarest birds, with only 60 pairs remaining in the wild in 1998; they are concentrated at two sites in Morocco.

The sacred ibis was worshipped by the ancient Egyptians. It always appeared in Egypt at the rise of the River Nile, and was supposed to preserve the country from plagues and serpents. Numerous mummified remains of ibises, wrapped in linen, have been found at Thebes and Memphis.