Scarlet ibis
Eudocimus ruber
— Where the name comes from
Eudocimus is “of good repute”, from eudókimos: the ibises had an excellent reputation as far back as Egypt, where the sacred ibis stood for the god Thoth, inventor of writing. Ruber is red. Ibis is an Egyptian word that came through Greek, and it is one of the oldest animal names still in use.
— Facts
- Group
- Birds · Aves
- Order
- Pelicans and allies
- Habitat
- Mangroves, estuaries, brackish marshes, coastal mudflats
- Range
- The northern coasts of South America and Trinidad
- Size
- 55–63 cm, wingspan 90–110 cm, 650 g
- Diet
- Crabs, shrimp, aquatic insects, small fish
- Lifespan
- 20 years in the wild
— Characteristics
- 01
The red is so saturated that a flock in flight looks like a neon sign.
- 02
The young are grey and brown and turn red over two years.
- 03
It probes the mud with its curved bill, without looking.
— What sets it apart
The colour is not its own: it comes from carotenoids in the crabs it eats, and a scarlet ibis fed otherwise fades to pale pink or white. In zoos that do not add shrimp to the diet, the animal loses within months the one thing people came to see. In Trinidad, where it is the national bird, thousands return together every evening to roost in the Caroni swamp, and the mangroves turn red all at once.
