Glossy Ibis

1. Thin white border around blue-grey facial skin is a key field mark

2. Iridescent plumage with green, bronze, and purple tones, especially in good light

3. Immatures are browner, with white markings on the head and throat and less iridescence

Glossy Ibises are tactile foragers, using their long, curved bills to probe mud and shallow water for aquatic invertebrates, including beetles, dragonfly larvae, molluscs, crustaceans, and occasionally small fish, amphibians, and reptiles. They are highly social, typically feeding and nesting in flocks, often alongside herons and spoonbills. Breeding occurs in colonies, with nests built in dense vegetation or low trees above water. Both parents share incubation and chick-rearing duties. The species is nomadic and disperses widely after breeding, with flocks sometimes numbering in the hundreds.

In Australia, Glossy Ibises are found in shallow freshwater wetlands, marshes, swamps, floodplains, and the edges of lakes and rivers, as well as in rice fields and irrigated farmland. They prefer areas with abundant emergent vegetation and shallow water for probing. While most numerous in northern Australia, they are widespread across the mainland and are non-breeding visitors to Tasmania and southwestern Western Australia. Glossy Ibises are rarely seen in urban environments, in contrast to the Australian White Ibis.