Ibises (pronounced "EYE-bis-es") are a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae. They all have long down curved bills, and usually feed as a group, probing mud for food items, usually crustaceans. Most species nest in trees, often with spoonbills or herons.
The word ibis comes from Greek, originally borrowed from Ancient Egyptian hîb.
Folklore
The Sacred Ibis was an object of religious veneration in ancient Egypt, particularly associated with the god, Thoth. At the town of Hermopolis, ibises were reared specifically for sacrificial purposes and in the Serapeum at Saqqara, archaeologists found the mummies of one and a half million ibises and hundreds of thousands of falcons.[1] The Ibis was renowned in antiquity for self-administering an enema to clear blockage by inserting its beak into its cloaca and injecting a spray of water.
Species in taxonomic order
Gallery
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American White Ibis captures a toad
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References
- ^ Fleming, Furgus; Alan Lothian; Duncan Baird Publishers. The Way to Eternity: Egyptian Myth. Amsterdam: Time-Life Books. 1997. pp. 66-67
External links
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