Ibis

For other uses, see Ibis (disambiguation).

Ibis
Black-headed ibis (Threskiornis melanocephalus)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Pelecaniformes
Family: Threskiornithidae
Subfamily: Threskiornithinae
Poche, 1904
Type genus
Threskiornis
G.R. Gray, 1842
Genera

The ibis (/ˈaɪbɪs/) (collective plural ibises;[1] classical plurals ibides[2][3] and ibes[3]) are a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae that inhabit wetlands, forests and plains.[4] "Ibis" derives from the Latin and Ancient Greek word for this group of birds. It also occurs in the scientific name of the western cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis) mistakenly identified in 1757 as being the sacred ibis.[5]

  1. ^ "ibis". Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved 6 October 2009.
  2. ^ Fennell, C. A. M., ed. (1892). The Stanford dictionary of Anglicised words and phrases. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 453. OCLC 1354115. Retrieved 6 October 2009.
  3. ^ a b Pierce, Robert Morris (1910). Dictionary of Hard Words. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company. p. 270. OCLC 4177508. Retrieved 6 October 2009.
  4. ^ Longrich, N. R.; Olson, S. L. (5 January 2011). "The bizarre wing of the Jamaican flightless ibis Xenicibis xympithecus: a unique vertebrate adaptation". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 278 (1716): 2333–2337. doi:10.1098/rspb.2010.2117. PMC 3119002. PMID 21208965.
  5. ^ Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 201. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.