If you want to learn about the Scarlet Ibis, this page
contains lots of useful information about its habitat
and lifestyle, as well as how it is affected by changes
to the rainforests.
The Scarlet Ibis (Eudocimus ruber) is a species of ibis
that inhabits tropical South America and also Trinidad
and Tobago. It is the national bird of Trinidad and is
featured on the Trinidad and Tobago coat of arms along
with Tobago's national bird Rufous-vented Chachalaca.
Adults are 56-61 cm long and weigh 650g. They are completely
scarlet, except for black wing-tips. They nest in trees,
laying two to four eggs.
Their diet includes crustaceans and similar small marine
animals. A juvenile Scarlet Ibis is grey/white in colour;
as it grows the ingestion of red crabs in the tropical
swamps gradually produces the characteristic scarlet plumage.
Life span of Scarlet Ibis is approximately 15 years in
the wild and 20 years in captivity. This species is very
closely related to the American White Ibis and is sometimes
considered conspecific with it. While the species may
have occurred as a natural vagrant in southern Florida
in the late 1800s, all recent reports of the species in
North America have been of introduced or escaped birds.
Eggs from Trinidad were placed in White Ibis nests in
Hialeah Park in 1962, and the resulting population hybridised
with the native ibis, producing "pink ibis" that are still
occasionally seen
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charity involved in numerous projects worldwide. Particularly
relevant to this site is their work in helping to purchase
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You can Help to Buy Rainforest
and Save it by donating to the WLT to save some of
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other animals or anything else to do with the rainforest
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please feel free to send them in. We always welcome contributions
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