#flightless ibis

By Scott Reid 

Etymology: Wingless Ibis

First Described By: Olson & Wetmore, 1976

Classification: Dinosauromorpha, Dinosauriformes, Dracohors, Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Maniraptoromorpha, Maniraptoriformes, Maniraptora, Pennaraptora, Paraves, Eumaniraptora, Averaptora, Avialae, Euavialae, Avebrevicauda, Pygostaylia, Ornithothoraces, Euornithes, Ornithuromorpha, Ornithurae, Neornithes, Neognathae, Neoaves, Aequorlitornithes, Ardeae, Aequornithes, Pelecaniformes, Threskiornithidae, Threskiornithinae

Referred Species: A. glenos (Molokai Flightless Ibis), A. brevis (Maui Flightless Ibis)

Status: Extinct

Time and Place: Between 200,000 years ago until sometime in the past 1000 years, from the Chibanian of the Pleistocene through the Holocene   

Apteribis is known from the islands of Maui, Lanai, and Molokai 

Physical Description: Apteribis looked, in a lot of ways, like your typical Ibis - it had a very long bill and skinny legs. Beyond that, though, it looked very different - it was more squat, for one, and it had a large round body. It also basically didn’t have any wings. This gave it, in a lot of ways, the appearance of a Kiwi, but it was an Ibis! We do have feathers from this animal that show it was brown in color, some darker brown and other feathers lighter brown of course but still overall brown - helping to add to that appearance like a Kiwi. And, like the living Kiwi, it was flightless.

Diet: There is nothing to suggest that Apteribis wasn’t like other Ibises, feeding mainly on invertebrates.

Behavior: Even though Apteribis was flightless, it still had hooklets in its feathers - usually used to provide structure in flight, for Apteribis they would have provided strength against stress in the wind and water. As such, Apteribis probably still contended with fairly perilous environments, probing through the waves or wading in strong wind to find food. It also probably spent a good amount of time looking for food in the litter of the forest floor, being associated strongly with the rainforests of Hawai’i. It would have used that long beak for probing, and its still skinny legs to carefully wade through whatever it was walking across. Beyond that, the rest of its behavior is uncertain - without flight, it wouldn’t have moved around much; and it probably would have taken care of its young. 

By José Carlos Cortés

Ecosystem: Hawai’i during the Ice Age was similar to Hawai’i today, just with some more arid conditions and different wildlife in general. Much like New Zealand, Hawai’i featured many kinds of unique birds, including Apteribis. There were also the Giant Hawaii Goose, a giant finch called the Giant Amakihi, the Giant Maui Crake, the High-Billed Crow, the Kaua’i Mole Duck, the Moa-Nalo, The Nēnē-nui, Stilt-Owls, and so many more.  

Other: Apteribis did get quite big, but overall it wasn’t an example of island gigantism, just island flightlessness.

Species Differences: A. glenos lived primarily on the island of Molokai, while A. brevis was found more on Maui.

~ By Meig Dickson

Sources Under the Cut