🦩 An Old World bird 🦩 A large wading bird

wood ibis

9.9

A wetland bird with long legs and a long curved bill that lives in Africa and Asia

noun
/wʊd ˈaɪbɪs/

: ibis de madera

We watched a wood ibis wading through the marsh, searching for food.

Examples

The wetlands are home to several species, including the rare wood ibis.
A wood ibis spread its wings and took flight above the riverbank.
The wood ibis is often seen in wetlands.
Many wood ibises gather near the river.
We watched a wood ibis wading through the marsh, searching for food.
The wetlands are home to several species, including the rare wood ibis.
A wood ibis spread its wings and took flight above the riverbank.

Synonyms

Ibis

vswood ibis

Specialized

2 6.3

A wading bird with long legs and a long curved bill often found in wetlands

is limited to Old World wetland species within that genus

Surface Forms

wood ibis singular

wood ibises plural

Morphology

wood + Ibis

The compound combines 'wood' (a wooded tract) with 'ibis' (a wading bird) to denote an ibis associated with wooded habitats; a learner who knows both words can infer it is a type of ibis found in woods or wooded swamps. This is a straightforward compositional noun+modifier pattern common across languages, so the meaning is directly derivable from the parts.

Etymology

Wood ibis may come from people who watched birds and saw an ibis often near trees and rivers. They used wood to show this ibis lives in wooded wetlands, so the name means a wetland bird that stays among trees.