Characteristics
 The glossy ibis is about 20 inches tall with a wingspan of about three feet. It has a long, dark gray bill that is curved down. It has dark purple to black feathers on its head, neck, back and belly. Its legs are long and black and its wings and tail are a shiny green. In breeding season the glossy ibis has rusty-red feathers and a pale blue line around its face.
Range
The glossy ibis can be found along the east coast of the United States from Maine to Texas. In the winter it lives from the Carolinas south to Florida and along the Gulf Coast to Texas. It is also found in Central America, South America, Africa, southern Eurasia and Australasia.
Habitat
The glossy ibis can be found in a variety of wetlands including marshes, estuaries, coastal bays, flooded fields and swamps.
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Diet
The glossy ibis probes in the mud and silt with its bill looking for prey like the fiddler crab, crawfish, insects and small snakes.
Life Cycle
The glossy ibis lays three or four eggs in a nest of twigs and sticks. The nests are usually built in trees or bushes but are sometimes built on the ground. They build their nests in colonies that include the nests of other ibises as well as the nests of other species like egrets and herons. Occasionally, the glossy ibis will use an abandoned snowy egret nest. The glossy ibis is very territorial during nesting.
The eggs take about three weeks to hatch. The female and male incubate the egg, but the female does most of the work. Both parents feed the chicks. The chicks fledge in about a month. They leave the nest and start to forage for food with their parents when they are two months old.
Behavior
The glossy ibis is relatively new to North America. It came here from Africa. It probably flew across the Atlantic to South America and then slowly expanded its range to North America.
Image Credits: Clipart.com
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