Green ibis

The green ibis (Mesembrinibis cayennensis), also known as the Cayenne ibis, is a wading bird in the ibis family Threskiornithidae. It is the only member of the genus Mesembrinibis.

For the bird known as African green ibis (Bostrychia olivacea), see Olive ibis.

Green ibis
in the Pantanal, Brazil
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Class: Aves
Order: Pelecaniformes
Family: Threskiornithidae
Genus: Mesembrinibis
J.L. Peters, 1930
Species:
M. cayennensis
Binomial name
Mesembrinibis cayennensis
(Gmelin, 1789)

This is a resident breeder from Honduras through Nicaragua, Costa Rica and western Panama, and South America to northern Argentina. It undertakes some local seasonal movements in the dry season.

Taxonomy

The green ibis was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it in the genus Tantalus and coined the binomial name Tantalus cayennensis.[2] Gmelin based his description on the "Cayenne ibis" that had been described in 1785 by the English ornithologist John Latham in his book A General Synopsis of Birds .[3] Latham had based his own description on the "Le Courlis des Bois " and the "Courly vert, de Cayenne" that the French polymath, the Comte de Buffon had included in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux.[4][5] The green ibis is now the only species placed in the genus Mesembrinibis that was introduced in 1930 by James Lee Peters.[6][7] The genus name Mesembrinibis is a combination of the Greek word mesēmbrinos, meaning "southern" (from mesēmbria, meaning "south") and ibis. The specific epithet cayennensis means "of Cayenne or French Guiana".[8] The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.[7] The species is also sometimes known as Cayenne ibis.[9]

DNA–DNA hybridization studies show that the species falls squarely into the New World ibis clade, with its closest relatives being the sharp-tailed ibis, the American white ibis and the buff-necked ibis.[10]

Green ibis perched on log in Tortuguero National Park.

Description

The green ibis is a medium-sized ibis, with short legs and a long, slender, decurved bill.[11][12] It measures 45–60 cm (18–24 in) in length and ranges from 700 to 890 g (1.5 to 2.0 lb) in mass.[13] The sexes, which are identical in plumage, overlap somewhat in measurements, though the largest birds are male.[13] Breeding adults have glossy greenish-black bodies, pale green legs and bill, and grey bare facial skin patches. Juveniles are much duller, but can be distinguished from the similar glossy ibis by their bulkier shape, shorter legs and broader wings. This species, like other ibises, flies with neck outstretched. Its flight is heavy, with fewer glides and jerkier wingbeats than its relatives.

It has a hollow, hooting, accelerating call,[14] most often heard at dawn and dusk.[15] Transcribed as kro kro or koro koro, the call is described as "mellow".[15]

Similar species

If seen in good light, the green ibis is distinctively dark, and unlikely to be confused with any other ibis. In poor light, however, it might be confused with the glossy ibis; the latter (which is bronzy-maroon in color) has longer legs and a slimmer build.[11]

Distribution and habitat

The green ibis is found from Costa Rica south to northern Argentina and Paraguay.[11] However, there have been sightings from as far north as Honduras,[16] and fossil records show the species formerly occurred as far north as Kansas in the United States.[17] It is found in a variety of forested wetland habitats, particularly swamps and along the edges of rivers and lakes,[14] at altitudes up to 500 m (1,600 ft).[11]

Behaviour

The green ibis is largely crepuscular.[18] Less gregarious than its relatives, it is usually seen alone or in pairs.[14] When it does forage in mixed-species flocks, it tends to remain on the fringes, usually among other green ibises.[19] It regularly perches in trees.[14]

Feeding

Like other ibises, it eats fish, frogs and other water creatures, as well as insects.

Breeding

Its nest is a flimsy platform of twigs built high in a tree.[11] It has been recorded harassing sunbitterns nesting in the same tree.[20]

Conservation status and threats

Because of its huge range and large population, the green ibis is rated as a species of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature; however, its numbers do appear to be decreasing.[1] It is at least occasionally hunted (and eaten) by residents of Central and South American countries.[21]

The crested caracara is known to prey on green ibis, with a pair observed chasing and attacking one in flight, driving it to the ground. They killed it by pecking it repeatedly on the head.[22] The green ibis is the type host of a species of bird louse, Plegadiphalus cayennensis.[23]

References
  1. BirdLife International (2016). "Mesembrinibis cayennensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22697460A93614511. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22697460A93614511.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. Gmelin, Johann Friedrich (1789). Systema naturae per regna tria naturae : secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1, Part 2 (13th ed.). Lipsiae [Leipzig]: Georg. Emanuel. Beer. p. 652.
  3. Latham, John (1785). A General Synopsis of Birds. Vol. 3, Part 1. London: Printed for Leigh and Sotheby. p. 107.
  4. Buffon, Georges-Louis Leclerc de; Martinet, François-Nicolas; Daubenton, Edme-Louis; Daubenton, Louis-Jean-Marie (1765–1783). "Courly vert, de Cayenne". Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle. Vol. xx. Paris: De L'Imprimerie Royale. Plate 820.
  5. Buffon, Georges-Louis Leclerc de (1781). "Le Courlis des Bois". Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux (in French). Vol. 8. Paris: De l'Imprimerie Royale. pp. 43–44.
  6. Peters, James L. (1930). "The type species of the avian genus Harpiprion". Occasional Papers of the Boston Society of Natural History. 5: 255–256 [256].
  7. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (August 2022). "Ibis, spoonbills, herons, Hamerkop, Shoebill, pelicans". IOC World Bird List Version 12.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  8. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. pp. 251, 95. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  9. Matheu & del Hoyo 1992, p. 500.
  10. Sheldon, Frederick H.; Slikas, Beth (1997). "Advances in Ciconiiform Systematics 1976-1996". Colonial Waterbirds. 20 (1): 106–114. doi:10.2307/1521772. JSTOR 1521772.
  11. Hilty, Steven L. (2003). Birds of Venezuela. Princeton, New Jersey, US: Princeton University Press. p. 217. ISBN 1400834090.
  12. Henderson, Carrol (2010) [2002]. Birds of Costa Rica: A Field Guide. Austin, TX, US: University of Texas Press. p. 60. ISBN 978-0-292-71965-1.
  13. Hancock, James; Kushlan, James A.; Kahl, M. Philip (1992). Storks, Ibises and Spoonbills of the World. London, United Kingdom: Academic Press. p. 189. ISBN 978-1-4081-3500-6.
  14. Schulenberg, Thomas S.; Stotz, Douglas F.; Lane, Daniel F.; O'Neill, John P.; Parker III, Theodore A. (2007). Birds of Peru. Princeton, New Jersey, US: Princeton University Press. p. 80. ISBN 978-0-691-13023-1.
  15. Ridgely, Robert S.; Gwynne, John A. (1989). A Guide to the Birds of Panama: With Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Honduras. Princeton, New Jersey, US: Princeton University Press. pp. 75–76. ISBN 0691025126.
  16. Marcus, Mickey J. (July 1983). "Additions to the Avifauna of Honduras" (PDF). The Auk. 100 (3): 621–629. doi:10.1093/auk/100.3.621. JSTOR 4086463. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  17. Collins, Charles T. (March 1964). "Fossil Ibises from the Rexroad Fauna of the Upper Pliocene of Kansas" (PDF). The Wilson Bulletin. 76 (1): 43–49.
  18. Heckman, Charles W. (1998). The Pantanal of Poconé. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers. p. 324. ISBN 978-0-7923-4863-4.
  19. Frederick, Peter C.; Bildstein, Keith L. (March 1992). "Foraging Ecology of Seven Species of Neotropical Ibises (Threskiornithidae) during the Dry Season in the Llanos of Venezuela" (PDF). The Wilson Bulletin. 104 (1): 1–21. JSTOR 4163112.
  20. Thomas, Betsy Trent; Strahl, Stuart D. (August 1990). "Nesting behavior of Sunbitterns in Venezuela" (PDF). The Condor. 92 (3): 576–581. doi:10.2307/1368675. JSTOR 1368675. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  21. Silvius, Kirsten M.; Bodmer, Richard E.; Fragoso, Jos M. V., eds. (2004). People in Nature: Wildlife Conservation in South and Central America. New York, New York, US: Columbia University Press. p. 350. ISBN 978-0-231-12782-0.
  22. de Godoy, Fernando Igor; Macarrão, Arthur; Costa, Julio César (June 2020). "Hunting behaviour of Southern Caracara Caracara plancus on medium-sized birds". Cotinga. 42: 28–30.
  23. Emerson, K. C.; Price, Roger D. (September 1969). "A New Species of Plegadiphilus (Mallophaga: Menoponidae) from the Cayenne Ibis". The Florida Entomologist. 52 (3): 161–163. doi:10.2307/3493851. JSTOR 3493851.

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