Bare-faced Ibis
Phimosus infuscatus
Unlike many other ibises, the bare-faced ibis uses its highly sensitive bill to detect prey primarily by touch rather than sight, probing deep into soft mud.
- Scientific name
- Phimosus infuscatus
- Taxonomy
- Animalia › Chordata › Aves › Pelecaniformes › Threskiornithidae › Phimosus
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- stable
- Biome
- wetland
- Habitat
- Freshwater marshes, swamps, wet savannas, pastures, and flooded agricultural fields.
- Diet
- Aquatic insects, crustaceans, mollusks, worms, and small seeds.
- Range
- Pantanal, Llanos, Parana Basin, Amazon Basin
- Size
- 45-55 cm in length, weighing 500-700 grams
- Lifespan
- 10-15 years
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Wetland drainage, agricultural pesticide runoff, and habitat fragmentation.
- Safe to approach?
- Harmless and easily startled. Maintain a respectful distance of at least 15 meters to avoid disrupting their feeding. They pose no threat to humans.
The bare-faced ibis ( Phimosus infuscatus ), also known as the whispering ibis , is a species of bird in the family Threskiornithidae, in the monotypic genus Phimosus .
Photo: Bernard DUPONT, CC-BY-SA, via iNaturalist
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