The family Threskiornithidae includes 5 species found in North America.

Ibises and Spoonbills occur primarily in freshwater and estuarine habitats, including swamps, marshes, coastal mangroves, rice fields, rivers and ponds. Ibises and spoonbills are widely distributed in the warmer regions of the world and are especially abundant in the tropics of Africa, Asia and South America. Ibises are medium-sized (50-100 cm long) with moderately long legs and necks and long, decurved bills. Spoonbills are 75-85 cm long, similar to ibises in other proportions, but their bills are straight and flattened with a spatulate tip. 

Food is mainly invertebrates, including insects, larvae, mollusks, crustaceans and small fish, reptiles, amphibians. Ibises feed mostly in shallow water and muddy areas by probing with their curved bill. In upland areas they take insects, spiders, bird and reptile eggs, small rodents and occasionally carrion. Spoonbills feed by wading through shallow water, sweeping the partly open spatulate bill from side to side through water and silt. They take insects, insect larvae, small fish, crustaceans, snails, frogs, tadpoles, worms and possibly plants. Ibises and spoonbills usually feed in groups.

They nest mainly in colonies, each pair defends only the nest site. Nests are large piles of sticks, other plant materials, lined with grass or reeds in trees or sometimes on the ground. The nest is built mainly by the female of material brought by the male. Clutch size is usually 2-5. Eggs white, pale green or blue, unmarked or spotted, with a chalky surface; laid at intervals of 1-3 days. Incubation is 21-29 days by both sexes, beginning with the first egg. Hatching is asynchronous. Both parents care for the hatchlings. Nestlings are fed by partial regurgitation directly from adult to young, or by complete regurgitation into the nest to be picked up by the young. Nestlings are brooded for 5-7 days and begin to move from the nest at 14-21 days, but return to be fed. They are capable of flight by 30-50 days of age. Age at first breeding is 3-4 years.