Granddad’s Camera
Glossy ibis, as it appears in the game

No.105 · Birds · Rare visitor

Glossy ibis

Plegadis falcinellus

A dark, curlew-sized wader with a long, down-curved bill. In good light its plumage flashes bronze, green and purple. It probes wet meadows and shallow water.

When to look

All year, mostly at dawn and day.

Time of day

Best time
Autumn to winter is the classic time, but birds turn up in any month. Look on flooded grazing marsh in low light.
Where in the game
the Norfolk Broads (grazing marsh and fen)
Size
48–66 cm long
Wingspan
80–105 cm
Weight
485–970 g; BTO's average is about 634 g
Population
About 200 passage birds in 2021; more than 220 winter records from 50 areas in 2022 (BTO)
Status
Rare; now a scarce resident and colonising breeder

Diet

Insects such as beetles, dragonflies and crickets, plus worms, snails, crustaceans and sometimes small fish or frogs, found by probing mud and shallow water

Habitat

Freshwater and brackish wetlands with tall dense vegetation. In Norfolk it feeds on flooded grazing marsh, fen and marsh edge

Breeding

Nests in platforms of reeds or bushes, often in mixed colonies. 3–4 eggs, incubated for 20–23 days. First successful UK breeding was in Cambridgeshire in 2022

Field signs

  • A dark, long-necked, long-billed wader flying with neck outstretched, in a line or V
  • A long curved bill probing wet ground in a sewing-machine action
  • Looks black at distance, then bronze and green in close light

Did you know?

  • The number wintering in Britain has risen more than sevenfold between the 1981–84 and 2007–11 atlases (BTO).
  • A flock of 14 arrived at Holme, Norfolk, in May 2023.
  • It is the most widespread ibis in the world.

Moments worth waiting for

  • Probing in the light September to February, dawn and dusk
    In the low sun the ibis turns its head and the black plumage flares bronze and green.

Photo tip

Watch from the track edge with a 500 mm lens. Ibises often work the same field for days, so choose a spot with the sun behind you and wait for the bird to turn its head into the light and show the sheen.

Be a good naturalist

Keep to the paths at Hickling. If it is feeding near cattle, do not walk into the field. An approach that puts a bird on the wing costs it feeding time.

The law

All wild birds are protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981

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