---
title: "Northern Bald Ibis"
description: "Geronticus eremita — Birds. The northern bald ibis, hermit ibis, or Waldrapp (Geronticus eremita) is a migratory Old World ibis found in open areas such as grasslands, rocky mountains, and semi-deserts, often close to running water."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/northern-bald-ibis
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Northern Bald Ibis

> Geronticus eremita — Birds. The northern bald ibis, hermit ibis, or Waldrapp (Geronticus eremita) is a migratory Old World ibis found in open areas such as grasslands, rocky mountains, and semi-deserts, often close to running water.

- Scientific name: *Geronticus eremita*
- Category: `birds` (Birds)
- Habitats: `grassland` (Fields & meadows), `mountains` (Mountains)
- iNaturalist observations: 2128
- Wikidata: [Q245414](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q245414)
- iNaturalist taxon: [3753](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/3753)

## Names

- en: Northern Bald Ibis
- de: Waldrapp
- es: Ibis eremita
- fr: Ibis chauve
- nl: Heremietibis
- pt: Íbis-eremita
- pl: Ibis grzywiasty

## Countries with the most observations

ES (498), IT (472), MA (309), CH (143), AT (94), DE (66), TR (54), FR (21), DK (10), PT (10), SI (8), AL (3)

## Summary

The northern bald ibis, hermit ibis, or Waldrapp (Geronticus eremita) is a migratory Old World ibis found in open areas such as grasslands, rocky mountains, and semi-deserts, often close to running water. This 70–80 cm (28–31 in) glossy black ibis, which, unlike many members of the ibis family, is non-wading, has an unfeathered red face and head, and a long, curved red bill. It breeds colonially on coastal or mountain cliff ledges, where it typically lays two to three eggs in a stick nest, and feeds on lizards, insects, and other small animals.
The northern bald ibis was once widespread across the Middle East, northern…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_bald_ibis

## Photo

![Northern Bald Ibis](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/northern-bald-ibis/medium.jpg)

Photo: Christian Ledergerber · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/216307872

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/northern-bald-ibis?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).