{"id":265361,"date":"2026-03-22T13:50:32","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T18:50:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fauna\/white-ibis\/"},"modified":"2026-06-14T17:46:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T22:46:22","slug":"white-ibis","status":"publish","type":"fauna","link":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/fauna\/white-ibis\/","title":{"rendered":"White Ibis"},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":258887,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_seopress_news_disabled":"","_seopress_video_disabled":"","_seopress_video":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas_manual":[],"_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable_all":"","_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas":[]},"collection":[],"country":[11],"fauna-group":[27492],"fauna-type":[27217],"star-rating":[325],"class_list":["post-265361","fauna","type-fauna","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","country-colombia","fauna-group-ibises","fauna-type-birds","star-rating-325"],"acf":{"scientific_name":"Eudocimus albus","animal_description":"The White Ibis (*Eudocimus albus*) is a striking wading bird easily recognized by its brilliant white plumage, which contrasts sharply with its distinctive, downward-curving red bill and bright pink legs. A unique characteristic of this species is its highly sensitive bill, which it uses to probe deep into mud and shallow water to feel for prey like crayfish, crabs, and insects\u2014a tactile feeding method rare among birds. During breeding season, adults develop vivid red-orange facial skin and black wingtips that flash in flight, while juveniles are a messy brown-and-white. A highly social and vocal bird, the White Ibis often forages in large, synchronized flocks, its presence a common and lively sight in wetlands and suburban lawns across the southeastern United States and beyond.","animal_habitat":"The White Ibis is found along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the United States, from North Carolina south through Florida and the Caribbean, into Central America and northern South America, including Colombia, Venezuela, and coastal Brazil. It inhabits shallow, freshwater, brackish, and saltwater wetlands such as marshes, swamps, mangroves, flooded pastures, and tidal creeks, where it forages by probing soft mud for crustaceans, insects, and small fish. It also frequents artificial habitats like rice fields, drainage ditches, and suburban ponds, often nesting in large colonies in trees or shrubs over water.","animal_behavior_and_reproduction":"White Ibises are highly gregarious, nesting in large, dense colonies often with other wading birds. Their social structure is based around these breeding aggregations, where males establish and defend small nesting territories, typically in trees or shrubs over water. Mating is seasonal and monogamous for the duration of a breeding cycle, beginning with a courtship ritual where the male presents twigs to the female; if she accepts, they build a platform nest together. A unique reproductive strategy is their ability to adjust clutch size and timing based on local food availability, often laying 2-5 eggs. Both parents share incubation duties for about 21-23 days, and after hatching, they feed the chicks by regurgitation. The young fledge at around 4-6 weeks but may remain near the colony for additional parental care.","diet":"The white ibis is a highly opportunistic forager, primarily feeding on crustaceans like crayfish and fiddler crabs, as well as aquatic insects, small fish, frogs, and snails. It uses its long, down-curved bill to probe into soft mud or shallow water, relying on touch rather than sight to detect prey. An interesting fact about its diet is that the ibis\u2019s bill tip has specialized sensory receptors that allow it to snap shut in milliseconds upon contact with prey, making it extremely efficient even in murky water. Additionally, during droughts, white ibises will shift to eating more terrestrial insects, such as grasshoppers and beetles, and they are known to follow plowing tractors in fields to snatch up exposed earthworms and grubs.","colors":"The adult White Ibis is primarily white with black wingtips visible in flight, while its face, legs, and long, curved bill are bright red to orange-red. Juveniles are a distinct mottled brown and white, with a pale bill and legs, providing camouflage in marsh habitats. This species lacks additional markings or specialized camouflage beyond the juvenile's disruptive coloration.","fun_facts":"While they appear pristine white, juvenile White Ibises are actually a messy mottled brown, taking two years to achieve their adult plumage, and adults often turn a startling pinkish-red during breeding season due to a crustacean-rich diet. Their long, curved bill acts like a precision tool in a bizarre feeding behavior called \"grope-feeding\": they probe blindly into mud or water, relying entirely on touch to snap up prey, often while other ibises crowd so close they appear to be in a synchronized, chaotic dance. A quirky adaptation is their preference for nesting in large, noisy colonies alongside storks and herons, where they will eagerly steal nesting material from neighbors\u2014a habit that turns their breeding grounds into a petty crime scene of twig theft.","conservation_status_&_efforts":"The White Ibis is currently listed as Least Concern by the IUCN, with a large and generally stable global population estimated at over 150,000 mature individuals, though local fluctuations occur. The primary threats to the species include habitat loss and degradation of wetland foraging and nesting sites due to drainage, urban development, and pollution. Climate change poses a growing risk through sea-level rise and increased storm frequency, which can inundate nesting colonies. Specific conservation measures focus on protecting key breeding and roosting sites within state and federal wildlife refuges, such as the Everglades National Park, and managing water levels in impoundments to maintain suitable feeding conditions. Ongoing monitoring programs track colony health and reproductive success, while public education campaigns aim to reduce disturbance from human recreation and mitigate the impacts of contaminants like mercury in their prey.","endemic":false,"migratory":true,"nocturnal":false,"conservation_status":"Least Concern","ebird_link":{"url":"https:\/\/ebird.org\/species\/whiibi","title":"View on Ebird","target":"_blank"},"animal_related_page":{"url":"https:\/\/animalia.bio\/white-ibis","title":"View on Animalia","target":"_blank"},"fauna_family":"Threskiornithidae","fauna_known_nicknames":"White Ibis, American White Ibis","fauna_average_length":"56\u201370 cm \/ 22\u201328 in","fauna_average_weight":"650\u20131050 g \/ 1.4\u20132.3 lb","fauna_wingspan":"90\u2013105 cm \/ 35\u201341 in","fauna_key_physical_feature":"Long, downward-curved red bill","fauna_primary_diet":"Primarily Carnivore (insects, crustaceans, small fish)","fauna_geographical_range":"Coastal regions of southeastern USA, Mexico, Central America, and northern South America","fauna_preferred_habitat":"Coastal wetlands, marshes, mangroves, and shallow lagoons","fauna_social_structure":"Highly Social (nests and forages in large colonies)","fauna_breeding_site":"Tree or shrub nests in dense colonies, often over water","fauna_conservation_status":"Least Concern (LC)","fauna_population_trend":"Stable","fauna_spanish_name":"Ibis blanco","fauna_french_name":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fauna\/265361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fauna"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/fauna"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/258887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"collection","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/collection?post=265361"},{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=265361"},{"taxonomy":"fauna-group","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fauna-group?post=265361"},{"taxonomy":"fauna-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fauna-type?post=265361"},{"taxonomy":"star-rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/star-rating?post=265361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}