Specie's Page                                               South America - Scarlet Ibis

Scarlet Ibis:

UK Status: Non resident, but can be found in zoo's and wildlife parks.

Habitat: This bird is to be found in tropical South America, and parts of the Caribbean, covering a vast area. It is the most colourful of the Ibis's, and It is the National Bird of Trinidad, and also Tobago. These birds like wetland, shallow pools, river estuaries, and the seashore where they feed in the sand, or mud.

Breeding: This bird, like a lot of large waders make a platform of loosely woven sticks in a tree canopy, they especially favour Mangrove trees. Scarlet Ibis females lay between three and five smooth, matt, dirty white eggs which take about three weeks to incubate. Both parents stay together and rear their offspring.

Comment: This bird has a very varied diet including, worms insects, crustaceans, molluscs, crabs and many other tasty titbits. They will also attack other birds and steal their food. Scarlet Ibis's are extremely gregarious, and gather in flocks sometimes numbering thousands of birds.