 Causes of death of adult ibis are not well known . Alligators could feasibly prey on nesting ibises but there has been little research in the area . A flock of fifty adult American white ibis were killed in a fire in the Everglades . The corpses were found in a dense swathe of cattail ( Typha angustifolia ) , which suggested they had taken shelter there . It is unclear why they had not been able to fly away from the fire , but one hypothesis was that they had been foraging for insects disturbed by the fire . 
