The Ibis are a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiomitthldae that inhabit wetlands, forest and plains.  “Ibis” derives from the Latin and Ancient Greek word for this group of birds.   There are 29 extant species and 4 extinct species of ibis.

A few million years ago, Jamaica was home to one of the strangest boxers in the animal kingdom – a flightless bird called Xenicibis xympithecus – Clubbed-wing ibis that could batter its enemies with club-shaped wings. Xenicibis is a large, extinct, flightless ibis. The only bird that has ever been discovered to have club-like wings.

Flaco, the escaped Central Park Zoo owl, dies

Flaco, the rare Eurasian owl that captured the attention of New York City and was dubbed “the most famous owl in the world,” died after reportedly colliding with a building on Friday, the Central Park Zoo said.

The beloved bird’s death comes just over a year after he escaped from his vandalized exhibit at the Central Park Zoo.  The initial findings from a necropsy performed on Saturday February 24th are consistent with death due to “acute traumatic injury,” the Zoo said in an update.

Flaco unwittingly transformed from an obscure bird to a cause celebre after being reported missing on February 2, 2023, from the cramped Central Park digs that served as his home since 2010, when he arrived in the city as a fledgling from a North Carolina bird sanctuary.  He had been hatched and raised in captivity for the first 12 years of his life.

Flaco had been released from captivity by Central Park vandals, police said.  Despite an extreme search, Flaco was able to evade capture for an entire year—and developed a following.