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Long-Legged WADERS

The long-legged waders are comprised of the egrets, herons, ibises, spoonbills, storks, and flamingos. They are a diverse group, united by their long legs that enable them to wade for food. Their familes and orders are given below:
Egret, Herons: Order Pelecaniformes, Family Ardeidae
Ibis, Spoonbills: Order Pelecaniformes, Family Threskiornithidae
Pelecaniformes also includes Balaenicipitidae (Shoebill); Pelecanidae (Pelicans); Scopidae (Hamerkop)
Storks: Order Ciconiiformes, Family Ciconiidae
Flamingos: Order Phoenicopteriformes, Family Phoenicopteridae



Ibis

Order Pelicaniformes    Family Threskiornithidae

Ibises and Spoonbills are closely related. Their most striking difference is in bill shape, with the Ibises having curved bills and the Spoonbills having straight bills that are broad at the end. Ibises use their bills to probe in mud, while Spoonbills move their side to side in the water to catch prey. At night they roost in trees that are near and often overhanging water.

Ibises and Spoonbills have recently been placed in the same order as Pelicans and Herons. Stay tuned!



Genus Bostrychia

Ibis,_Hadada Bostrychia hagedash   Found: Asia, Africa
The Hadada Ibis has gray to partly brown plumage; white cheek, neck, breast; blackish legs; gray to black bill.
Similar to: Wattled Ibis. Hadada has white cheek; Wattled Ibis has brown head.
Similar to: Whte Ibis. Juveniles of these species are similar. If found in USA, then White Ibis.
Image by:  1) Cristiano Crolle - South Africa  2, 3,Dick Daniels - South Africa   4) Dick - Tanzania    5) Dick - National Aviary  6) Dick - Kenya



Ibis,_Olive   Bostrychia olivacea   Found: central Africa
Image by: 1) Merrittimages  2) Michal Porebiak - Ethiopia
1) Juvenile


Ibis,_Sao_Tome  Bostrychia bocagei  Found: São Tomé off the western coast of central Africa
The Sao Tome Ibis has a slightly bronzed mantle, wing-coverts; dull olive head; blackish around eyes
Image by: 1, 2) Nik_Borrow


Ibis,_Spot-breasted  Bostrychia rara  Found: Africa
The Spot-breasted Ibis has buff spotted neck, breast. It is rarely seen.
Image by: 1) Kani


Ibis,_Wattled  Bostrychia carunculata  Found: Ethiopia and Eritrea
The Wattled Ibis has mainly brown plumage; white shoulder patches; thin wattle attached to base of bill; no white cheek.
Similar to: Hadada Ibis. Hadada has white cheek; Wattled Ibis has brown head.
Image by: 1, 2) Colleen Taugher  3) Veli   4) Nik_Borrow - Ethiopia



Genus Cercibis - 1 speciea

Ibis,_Sharp-tailed   Cercibis oxycerca   Found: northern South America
The Sharp-tailed Ibis has elongated body shape; glossy black plumage; red face wattle.
Image by: 1) Miguel Jacques  2) Barloventomagico - Venezuela  3) Cornell_Univ's_Neotropical_Birds_Online - Carlos_Siegert in Venezuela



Genus Eudocimus
The Eudocimus genus is probably most closely related to the Plegadis genus.  Eudocimus is the older lineage.

Ibis,_Scarlet Eudocimus ruber  North America (escapees from captivity), South America
The adult Scarlet Ibis has bright scarlet plumage.
Similar to: Whte Ibis. Juveniles of these species are similar. If found in USA, then White Ibis.
Image by: 1) Casliber  2) Dick - Birds of Eden  4, 5) Dick Daniels - Sylvan Heights   3, 6) Sandy Cole - Birds of Eden, South Africa   7) Gabriel_Caparó
1) Range (orange)  2, 3) Juvenile



Ibis,_White also American White Ibis Eudocimus albus   Found: south USA to South America, Caribbean
The White Ibis has mainly white plumage; black-tipped wings.
Similar to: Australian White Ibis, Black-headed Ibis. Range does not overlap.
Similar to: Limpkin. Juvenile White Ibis has white belly; Limpkin has dark belly.
Similar to: Scarlet Ibis. Juveniles of these species are similar. If found in USA, then White Ibis.
Image by: 1) Casliber  2, 3, 6, 7) Dick Daniels in North Carolina  5, 8, 9) Dick - Florida   4)  Alan D. Wilson  - South Padre Island, Texas
1) Range (blue)  2, 3, 4) Juvenile





Genus Geronticus
The bald ibis have blad heads which gives them a vulture like appearance. They also differ from other ibis by breeding on cliffs rather than trees and preferring arid locations to wetlands.

Ibis,_Northen Bald also Waldrapp  Geronticus eremita  Found: Africa (mainly Morocco)
The Northen Bald Ibis has glossy black plumage; unfeathered red crown, face; curved red bill. Unlike other ibis, it is a non-wading bird. It is critically endangered with about 500 birds in southern Morocco.
Image by:  1, 2) Agustin Povedano  - Spain  3) Dezidor    4) Cristiano Crolle - Northern Italy


Ibis,_Southern Bald  Geronticus calvus  Found: southern Africa
The Southern Bald Ibis has glossy black plumage; unfeathered red crown, face; curved red bill. Unlike other ibis, it is a non-wading bird.
Image by: 1) Sarefo - Cologne Zoo, Germany 2, 3) Dick Daniels  - Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo   4, 5) Dick - San Diego Zoo  6) Sandy Cole - San Diego Zoo




Genus Lophotibis- 1 species

Ibis,_Madagascar Crested  Lophotibis cristata  Found: Madagascar
The Madagascar Crested Ibis has mostly brown plumage; glossy greenish-blue head; red orbital skin; red legs; yellow bill; white wings;
Image by: 1) Eric Savage at the Bronx Zoo, USA   2) Joe - Bronx Zoo  3, 4) Dick Daniels - San Diego Zoo  



Genus Mesembrinibis - 1 species

Ibis,_Green  Mesembrinibis cayennensis  Found: Central and South America
The Green Ibis has mainly green plumage; pale green bill, legs; gray bare facial skin patches.
Image by: 1) Dario Sanches - Brazil  2) Claudio Timm  3) Blake Matheson  4) Alastair Rae



Genus Nipponia

Ibis,_Crested   Nipponia nippon   Found: mostly captive in China and Japan
The Crested Ibis has white plumage; substantial red bare skin on head.
Image by: 1) Hisagi  2) Ken  3) Danielinblue



Genus Phimosus  - 1 species

Ibis,_Bare-faced  Phimosus infuscatus  Found: South America
Image by: 1, 2) Cláudio Timm in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil  3) Gustavo Duran  4) Barloventomagico - Venezuela



Genus Plegadis
The Plegadis genus is probably most closely related to the Eudocimus genus.  Eudocimus is the older lineage.

Ibis,_Giant  Pseudibis gigantea  Found: Cambodia
The largest of the ibis. It has grayish-brown plumage; naked grayish head; yellowish-brown bill; orange legs; dark red eyes.
Image by: 1) Chaiyan_Kasorndorkbua  2) James_Eaton


Ibis,_Glossy Plegadis falcinellus   Found: The Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia
The breeding Glossy Ibis has glossy reddish-brown plumage; green wings; brownish billl; dark facial skin; red-brown legs. Nonbreeding and juveniles duller.
Similar to: Limpkin. Glossy Ibis is darker and its bill is more curved than Limpkin.
Similar to: White-faced Ibis. Adult Glossy Ibis has dark eyes; adult Glossy Ibis has red eyes. Nonbreeding Glossy Ibis and White-faced Ibis are very similar. Breeding White-faced Ibis has a white border around its face.
Image by: 1, 2) Dick Daniels- Flamingo Gardens, Florida    3) Sylvan de Munck   4) Mehmet Karatay  5) Agustin_Povedano  6) ) Dick - Venice, Florida  7) Alan D. Wilson  - California



Ibis,_Puna  Plegadis ridgwayi  Found: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Peru
Image by: 1) Thomas Quine  2) Francesco_Veronesi  Dick Daniels - Urubamba, Peru  3) Dick - Andes of Peru


Ibis,_White-faced Plegadis chihi   Found: west USA to South America
The breeding White-faced Ibis has pink bare face bordered by white feathers; gray bill; red legs; eyes. Nonbreeding has no white face.
Similar to: Glossy Ibis. Adult Glossy Ibis has dark eyes; adult Glossy Ibis has red eyes. Nonbreeding Glossy Ibis and White-faced Ibis are very similar. Breeding White-faced Ibis has a white border around its face.
Image by: 1, 4, 5 Cláudio Timm - Brazil   2) Dan Pancamo - Texas   3) Kevin Cole along the Pacific Coast, USA    6) Alan D. Wilson - near Burns, Oregon  7) nebirdsplus - Massachusetts
1) Juvenile  2 - 5) Nonbreeding  6, 7) Breeding



Ibis,_White-shouldered  Pseudibis davisoni  Found: SW China to Myanmar, peninsular Thailand and Indochina
Image by: 1) David_Cook - Cambocia 



Genus Pseudibis
Southeast Asian Ibis

Ibis,_Red-naped  also  Black Ibis  Pseudibis papillosa  Found: Indian Subcontinent
The Red-naped Ibis has black head with crimson patch; white patch near shoulder;
Image by:  1) J M Garg in Haryana, India  2) Joby Joseph - India    3) Niraj Mistry  4) Jan Arendtsz   5) Charlene Wood 





Genus Theristicus
Found in open, grassy habitats in South America. All have a long, decurved dark bill, relatively short reddish legs that do no extend beyond the tail in flight, at least the back is gray.

Ibis,_Black-faced  Theristicus melanopis  Found southern South America
The Black-faced Ibis has gray upperparts; black flight feathers; buffish head, neck, lower-breast; gray breast band; cinnamon crown, nape; blackish bill, bare skin around eyes.
Located farther south than the similar Buff-necked Ibis
Similar to: Buff-necked Ibis. Buff-necked Ibis has large white wing-patches; Black-faced Ibis does not.i
Image by: 1) dFaulder at Puerto Montt, Chile  2, 3, 5) Cláudio Timm  Calafate, Argentina    4) Dick Daniels - Andes of Peru
1) Juvenile  2, 3, 4) Nonbreeding  5) Breeding  4) Andean subspecies also known as Andean Ibis



Ibis,_Buff-necked also White-throated Ibis  Theristicus caudatus Found: South America
The Buff-necked Ibis has gray upperparts; black , belly, flight feathers; buffish head, neck, lower-breast; cinnamon crown, nape; blackish bill, bare skin around eyse; red legs.
Located farther south than the similar Buff-necked Ibis
Similar to: Black-faced Ibis. Buff-necked Ibis has large white wing-patches; Black-faced Ibis does not.i
Image by: 1, 2) Claudio Timm - Brazil  3) Dario Sanches  4) Fabio Meffei


Ibis,_Plumbeous  Theristicus caerulescens  Found: South America
The Plumbeous Ibis has mainly gray plumage; elongated plumes on neck; white forehead; reddish legs.
Image by:  1) Dario Niz - Uruguay  2, 3) Cláudio Timm in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil  4) Bernard_Dupont - Brazil



Genus Threskiornis
They occur in the warmer parts of the Old World in southern Asia, Australasia and sub-Saharan Africa.

Ibis,_Australian White Threskiornis molucca  Found: Australia
The Australian White Ibis has mainly white plumage; black head, bill, tail, legs.
Similar to: Black-headed Ibis, White Ibis. Range does not overlap.
Image by: 1, 2, 3) Dick Daniels - Australia  


Ibis,_Black-headed  Threskiornis melanocephalus  Found: south Asia, India, Japan
The Black-headed Ibis has mainly white plumage; black head, bill, tail, legs.
Similar to: Australian White Ibis, White Ibis. Range does not overlap.
Image by: 1) Allan Hopkins  2, 5) Vijay Ismavel  3) Ravi Vaidyanathan  4) J M Garg 
1) Juvenile



Ibis,_Sacred Threskiornis aethiopicus   Foumd: Africa  Introduced: Europe
The Sacred Ibis has mainly white plumage; black head, bill, tail, legs.
Image by:  1) Dick Daniels - Flamingos Wildlife Reserve in Las Vegas.  2) Dick - World of Birds, South Africa    3) Charlie Westerinen - the Okavango Delta in Botswana  4, 5) Dick - Fish Eagle Lodge, Knysna Lagoon, Kenya
    6) Joseph Mochoge - Gilgil, Kenya  7) Cristiano Crolle - near Novara, Italy



Ibis,_Straw-necked Threskiornis spinicollis   Found: Australia, New Guinea
The Straw-necked has black back, collar; glossy black wings may have colored sheen; mostly white neck; white belly, under-tail.
Image by:  1) Cyron Ray Macey  2) Dick Daniels - Australia    3) JJ Harrison - Australia  4) Laurie_Boyle  5) Charlie Westerinen - Goulburn Australia






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