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- Permanent Link:
- http://dpanther.fiu.edu/dpService/dpPurlService/purl/FI14090840/00001
Subjects
- Subjects / Keywords:
- Ibis
Notes
- Scope and Content:
- Source: Ibis 1
Length of Segment: 00:01:16
Hi, I'm Dr. Jerry Jackson, out with the wild things. Ibises are wading birds that occur around the world and include about 32 species. These are birds that stand two to two-and-a-half-feet tall on long legs, have a long neck, and a long slender bill that they use to probe into mud and water in search of insects, worms, snails, and other small animals as food. Perhaps the most famous of ibises is the sacred ibis that was so revered by the ancient Egyptians that it is the animal most often found mummified in Egyptian tombs. Thoth, the Egyptian God of wisdom, writing, and magic was symbolized as a man with a head of an ibis. Thoth was believed to have given humans writing and our 365-day year. Unfortunately, reverence for Thoth and mummification of sacred ibises may have contributed to the bird’s extinction in Egypt. Fortunately, sacred ibises still occur farther south in Africa. In Florida, we have two common species of ibis: the white ibis and the glossy ibis. And like its Egyptian counterpart, our white ibis has taken on symbolic meaning: it's the mascot of the University of Miami Hurricanes, and is considered a symbol of knowledge. ( English )
- Scope and Content:
- Source: Ibis 2
Length of Segment: 00:01:15
Hi, I'm Dr. Jerry Jackson, out with the wild things. The most common ibis in Florida is our white ibis, a striking white bird that stands about two feet tall and has a long, slender, down-curved pink to red bill. During spring, the white ibis’s bill, face, and legs are an especially brilliant reddish-pink. White ibises are social birds that often feed in flocks of six to twelve individuals that probe for insects on lawns or for other small animals on mudflats or in shallow water. They're useful birds in that they readily take sod webworms, but also take small crabs, crayfish, frogs, fish, and even small snakes. White ibises are resident in southwest Florida, but their numbers swell in winter as northern ibises join them to take advantage of our warm climate and abundance of wetland habitats. White ibises often join herons and egrets in large nesting colonies. Young white ibises are brown above and easily distinguished from their white parents. In the spring of their second year, young white ibis are often modeled as they grow their adult plumage. ( English )
- Scope and Content:
- Source: Ibis 3
Length of Segment: 00:01:15
Hi, I'm Dr. Jerry Jackson, out with the wild things. The glossy ibis is a two foot tall wading bird that often appears nearly black, but when viewed close it's a beautiful metallic bronze in color. During the breeding season, the bare skin of its face becomes blue-black and is bordered by a thin line of white or light-blue. Markings that are beautiful but rarely seen unless you're watching an ibis close at hand. While a glossy ibis is less conspicuous than our more common white ibis in Florida, it is the most widespread ibis in the world and it is found literally around the world in the tropics and sub-tropics. As with other ibises, the glossy ibis has long legs and a distinctive long thin bill that curves downward. It's a social bird that is somewhat nomadic, wandering in small groups in search of good feeding areas. Glossy ibises find food in a diversity of wetland habitats where they probe in soft mud to find worms, small insects, snails, and clams. In South Florida, they're often seen in agricultural areas where piles of decaying vegetables are sometimes dumped. There, they feed on both the soft pulp of the vegetables and on the insects attracted to it. ( English )
- Scope and Content:
- Source: Ibis 4
Length of Segment: 00:01:14
Hi, I'm Dr. Jerry Jackson, out with the wild things. The most stunning of Florida Ibises is the scarlet ibis, a bird that is historically known from our state as a wanderer from northern South America. This two foot tall brilliant scarlet wader with a long, thin, curved bill is known for its wandering and it’s still seen with some regularity in Florida. However, the origin of scarlet ibises seen today in Florida is questionable. Scarlett ibises are often kept in zoos and theme parks, and occasionally escape to join wild flocks of white ibises. In addition, in 1961, 22 eggs of scarlet ibises were taken from nests in the Caroni Swamp of Trinidad and flown to Florida. There, they were placed in nests of white ibises. The white ibises raised some of the scarlet young and those young, imprinted on their white ibis foster parents, joined white ibis flocks and interbred with them. Most scarlet ibises seen in Florida today are probably hybrids between scarlet and white ibises. Scarlett and white ibises are very closely related, and some authorities consider them to be color phases of the same species. ( English )
- Scope and Content:
- Source: Ibis 5
Length of Segment: 00:01:14
Hi, I'm Dr. Jerry Jackson, out with the wild things. White ibises nest in colonies with other white ibises and often several kinds of herons and egrets. Nesting colonies often develop where the birds have been roosting at night. White ibis nests are typically in trees but lower than nests of herons. Sometimes ibises even nest on the ground. While herons and egrets build a flimsy platform nest, that of the white ibis is slightly more substantial, including a shallow depression and often leafy twigs. Normally an ibis female will have three cream to bluish eggs that are splotched with brown. These hatch in about three weeks and nestlings leave the nest quickly, standing along branches as they wait for parents to return with food. Young leave the colony about 40 days after hatching. Earlier in their nesting activities, the male ibis guards the nest during the day, and the female guards it at night. The nest is guarded not only against predators, but also against neighbors that might borrow a few twigs for their own nest. Young white ibises from the previous year sometimes help out at an ibis colony, going from nest to nest to shade and even preen younger nestlings. They're not known to feed the youngsters, but probably gain important experience from their efforts. ( English )
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- Resource Identifier:
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