Glossy Ibis

(Plegadis falcinellus)

Size(57-63cm): It is the smallest of all the Ibises found in India.

Area: Resident and winter visitor mostly to W India.

Habitat: Marshes, lakes, vegetation near a river and water-logged paddyfields.

My two words: They are large and reddish-brown in colour. The wings are shiny green. The bill is large, brown and down curved. The legs are yellow to reddish brown. The breeding adults have ‘glossy’ reddish-brown body colour. The non-breeding adults have duller bodies and the head and neck have ugly black and whitish-grey hair. The juveniles are duller.

The nest is a platform of twigs where the eggs are laid. The eggs take about 20-25 days to hatch. The incubation is done by both the parents. The chicks fledge in about 4 weeks.

Their diet include crustaceans, molluscs, grasshopers, beetles, draginflies and other insects.

They are usually silent but make some grunting sounds at breeding sites.

~Arjun Basandrai