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Scarlet Ibis — printable fact sheet
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Scarlet Ibis
Eudocimus ruber
The scarlet ibis (Eudocimus ruber) is not born red. Chicks are grey-brown, and the adult's saturated scarlet is built entirely from carotenoid pigments absorbed from its food, chiefly small crabs and other crustaceans in the coastal mudflats of northern South America. Captive bi…
Did you know?
- Despite their bold coloring, Scarlet Ibises hatch with gray or brown feathers, only turning scarlet after several years of eating carotenoid-rich foods.
- The red comes from the same class of pigments that colour flamingos, and the two birds go pale in captivity for exactly the same reason. Scarlet ibis nestlings are fed by regurgitation and stay grey until well after fledging, reaching full adult colour only at around two years old. In flight the flock often forms a shifting line rather than a strict V, and the birds beat and glide in unison. Because it hybridises freely with the white ibis, some taxonomists still argue over whether it deserves species status at all.
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