Plegadis falcinellus
Silhouette: Mathieu Pélissié · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~60% in a week ~90%
The glossy ibis (Plegadis falcinellus) is a water bird in the order Pelecaniformes and the ibis and spoonbill family Threskiornithidae. The scientific name derives from Ancient Greek plegados and Latin, falcis, both meaning "sickle" and referring to the distinctive shape of the bill.
The historical name black curlew was used for the glossy ibis in Norfolk at least until the early 19th century, and this name also appears in Anglo-Saxon literature. Yalden and Albarella do not mention this species as occurring in medieval England.
This is the most widespread ibis species, breeding in scattered sites in warm regions of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Atlantic and Caribbean regions of the Americas. It is thought to have originated in the Old World and spread naturally from Africa to northern South America in the 19th century, from where it spread to North America. The glossy ibis was first documented in the New World in 1817 (New Jersey). Audubon saw the species just once in Florida in 1832. It expanded its range substantially northwards in the 1940s and to the west in the 1980s. This species is migratory; most European birds winter in Africa, and in North America... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luxor | 🇪🇬 Egypt | |
| 2 | Cairo | 🇪🇬 Egypt | |
| 3 | Madurai | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Rabat | 🇲🇦 Morocco | |
| 5 | Vasai-Virar | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 6 | Coimbatore | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Kalyan-Dombivli | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 8 | Vijayawada | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 9 | Chennai | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 10 | Bengaluru | 🇮🇳 India |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Glossy Ibis sighting in Chennai on a given day, based on 1,948 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 33rd most-seen of the 223 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March and August–November
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Glossy Ibis in Chennai on a given day, against about 20% in April–July and December–February, the lowest months. Those are among Chennai's wettest months, with about 170 mm of rain a month against 5 mm in February.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Glossy Ibis sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
9th of 88
Of the 88 cities where we can rate Glossy Ibis sightings, Chennai ranks 9th at about 20%. The best odds are in Luxor (Egypt, about 60%), Cairo (Egypt, about 50%) and Madurai (India, about 50%).
Same family: Threskiornithidae
The closest relatives of the Glossy Ibis that you can see in Chennai (family Threskiornithidae, Ibises and Spoonbills) are Black-headed Ibis (about 20%) and Eurasian Spoonbill (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Glossy Ibis is recorded against all the birds logged in Chennai (1,948 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
