Touring with LaBete - Scarlet Ibis - Caroni Swamp The Scarlet Ibis is Trinidad's most famous bird. As it is the national bird it is officially protected. We had the good fortune to visit Trinidad's Caroni swamp which is home to 12,000 of the stunningly spectacular ibis. The adult bird is bright scarlet with black wing tips and a long curved bill - 23" long. The immature bird is mainly grey in colour. The ibis roost and nest in mangroves. They feed over mudflats in shallow swamp lagoons, probing the mud for small crabs, but also taking shrimps and small fish. It is a very gregarious species, feeding, flying, nesting and roosting in large flocks. Every evening during the last hour of daylight the flocks converge upon the roost-site in the Caroni swamp creating a magnificent spectacle as they do so. The nest sites are carefully guarded by the authorities. The sociable birds congregate at night on small mangrove islands that can only be approached by boat. While touring through the maze of channels in the Caroni swamp mangroves we also saw four-eyes fish, night herons, mangrove crabs, mangrove boas, common black hawk, snowy egret and blue heron. The gorgeous scarlet ibis birds are luminous in the late afternoon sun. As they come in to roost the lowest level of mangrove island fills with stark white snowy egret, little blue herons occupy the mid-level, then the ibises arrive in small groups from their feeding grounds, gliding gracefully to roost atop the mangrove until hundreds of them stand out like brilliant flowers against a green background. A truly magnificent sight!