Appearance

The Green Ibis has a decurved, greenish bill, short greenish legs, dark bronzy green plumage that is brightest on the neck and chest, an inconspicuous crest, and a dull black belly (Ridgely and Gwynne 1992).

In poor light, the Green Ibis may seem similar to the Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus), though the latter is more slender, has longer legs, and is bronzy or purplish in good light (Ridgely and Gwynne 1992, Hilty 2003).

The following description is based on Blake (1977) with respect to the adult, and on Hancock et al. (1992) for the nestling.

Adult: Sexes similar. The back, rump, wing coverts, inner secondaries, and undersurface are dark, strongly glossed with bronzy green. The primaries, outer secondaries, and rectrices steel blue. The long, narrow feathers of the hindneck and sides of the neck are sparkling emerald green. The throat and the fore part of head are dull gray.

Nestling: Dark gray with a cicurmorbital white line, which is apparent for some time after fledging, but fades with age.

Little information. The nestlings have a gray plumage; some juvenile plumage characteristics are maintained after the first molt occurs (Hancock et al. 1992). It appears that only the skin changes color for the breeding season, with no alternate molt (Hancock et al. 1992).

Data from Blake (1977):

Iris: pale brown; bare orbital skin and bare skin on chin deep gray

Bill: greenish

Tarsi: greenish

Total length: 48-56 cm (Blake 1977, Hilty 2003).

Mass: 1 male 785 g, 1 female 715 g (Haverschmidt 1968)