Eudocimus albus
white ibis

The White Ibis breeds in the coastal region of Virginia, south and west to Louisiana, including inland S. Carolina through Florida. It also breeds along the entire coast of Mexico, Belize, Nicaragua, Cuba, Jamaica, Panama, and Costa Rica. Their non-breeding range extends only slightly deeper into inland Louisiana, Georgia, and S. Carolina.

Barriers, marshes, spoil islands on the coast, and islands in inland lakes are the preferred nesting sites for the White Ibis. These sites are in interior and coastal wetlands, in environments ranging from southeastern mixed forest to outer coastal plain forest, savanna, prairie parkland, and prairie bushland. Feeding habitats include sedge marshes, cypress swamps, salt marshes, and mangrove swamps.

Resembling the Great Blue Heron in body shape, the White Ibis is a medium-sized wading bird. Its feathers are entirely white, except for its dark wing tips. The face of the ibis is bare and pink, blending into its long, curved bill, which is brown at the tip. It has long pink legs, which end with webbed toes. The adults eyes are light blue.

The White Ibis walks slowly while foraging, occasionally leaping over others in their flock as it moves across its feeding grounds. White Ibises are highly sociable, nesting, feeding, roosting, and flying in flocks. In spite of this, ibises defend their small nesting territory and mate agressively. They do this by jabbing and biting at rivals, as well as holding their opponent's wing or head in their bill.

Using its long decurved bill and long neck, the White Ibis probes the surface of its wetland habitat for aquatic crustaceans (such as crayfish and crabs) and insects. It washes the mud from its prey in the surrounding water, then swallows it with a quick, upward thrust of the neck and head. White Ibises tend to feed in large groups. They fly with this group to and from their feeding location.

In Louisiana, White Ibises are considered a threat to commercial crayfish farmers and are sometimes shot as vermin.

White Ibis was hunted as game throughout its range. Its appealing taste is thought to originate from its crustacean diet.

The main threat to white ibis populations is the destruction of colony sites and wetland foraging environments by humans. The management of these areas is a problem, because ibises tend to change sites frequently. As a whole, however, the population is not experiencing large decreases in number and no special status has been issued for this species. In Florida white ibises are a species of special concern.