Plegadis falcinellus
Silhouette: Mathieu Pélissié · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
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 Lake Nakuru National Park on a given day, based on 226 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 89th most-seen of the 369 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
November
In that month about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Glossy Ibis in Lake Nakuru National Park on a given day, against about 10% in January–February, May and August, the lowest months. That is one of Lake Nakuru National Park's wettest months, with about 110 mm of rain against 20 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.
16th of 69
Of the 69 parks where we can rate Glossy Ibis sightings, Lake Nakuru National Park ranks 16th at about 20%. The best odds are in Doñana National Park (Spain, about 70%), Keoladeo National Park (India, about 60%) and Camargue (France, about 60%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Threskiornithidae
The closest relatives of the Glossy Ibis that you can see in Lake Nakuru National Park (family Threskiornithidae, Ibises and Spoonbills) are African Spoonbill (about 60%), Hadada (about 50%) and African Sacred Ibis (about 50%), 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 Lake Nakuru National Park (226 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
