The small bird genus Geronticus belongs to the ibis subfamily Threskiornithinae. Its name is derived from the Greek gérontos (γέρωντος, "old man") in reference to the bald head of these dark-plumaged birds; in English, they are called bald ibises.

The genus was erected by the German naturalist Johann Georg Wagler in 1832. The type species was subsequently designated as the southern bald ibis (Geronticus calvus).

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