sacred ibis

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun A large, short-legged ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus) native to Africa and the Middle East, having predominantly white plumage and a black, naked head and neck.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun A species of wading bird of the ibis family, Threskiornithidae, which breeds in sub-Saharan Africa, SE Iraq and formerly in Egypt, where it was venerated and often mummified as a symbol of the god Thoth; Threskiornis aethiopicus.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun African ibis venerated by ancient Egyptians