In groups, ibises search the mud by hunting 'by touch': thanks to the numerous nerve endings in their long beaks, they can easily detect their various prey in murky or muddy waters. Everything is fair game! Although their diet consists mainly of insects, they will also eat small fish, rodents, molluscs, crustaceans, amphibians and their tadpoles, birds' eggs and even waste.

When evening comes, they gather in their hundreds in 'dormitories'.

A medium-sized bird, the Sacred Ibis has white plumage except for the tips of its wings and lower back, which are black. The head and neck, also black, are bare in adults. In juveniles, they remain feathered until the age of 2–3 years. The thick, curved beak is shorter in females.

The sacred ibis, incarnation of Thoth, god of writing, mathematics and speech, protector of scribes, was revered by the Egyptians, and anyone who killed this bird faced the death penalty. The spirits of numerous mummified ibises, found in tombs, were believed to accompany the pharaohs to their final spiritual resting place.

Ibis disappeared from Egypt in the first half of the 20th century, hunted for their meat and feathers. However, they are still very common in sub-Saharan Africa, where their survival depends on protection and the preservation of their habitat, which is constantly being degraded by humans, particularly wetlands. Outside their natural environment, they can now be found around food industries and rubbish dumps, much like our seagulls.

In France, several hundred sacred ibises, descended from individuals that escaped from zoos in the 1980s, have colonised part of the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts, threatening the eggs of local nesting species such as terns, egrets and lapwings. Sampling and sterilisation operations are being carried out in Loire-Atlantique, Morbihan and Vendée to reduce the number of breeding birds and preserve local wildlife.