Black-headed ibis

Black-headed ibis
Black-headed ibis in Tirunelveli, India
Conservation status
Near Threatened (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Pelecaniformes
Family:	Threskiornithidae
Genus:	Threskiornis
Species:	T. melanocephalus
Binomial name
Threskiornis melanocephalus (Latham, 1790)

juvenile asking for food from adult in Uppalapadu, Andhra Pradesh, India

The black-headed ibis or Oriental white ibis (Threskiornis melanocephalus) is a species of wading bird of the ibis family Threskiornithidae which breeds in the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia from northern India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka east up to Japan. It builds a stick nest in a tree and lays 2–4 eggs.

It occurs in marshy wetlands inland and on the coast, where it feeds on various fish, frogs and other water creatures, as well as on insects. It walks about actively on marshy land probing with its bill into soft mud and often feeds in shallow water with its head momentarily submerged. Like storks and Spoonbills, it lacks a true voice-producing mechanism and is silent except for peculiar ventriloquial grunts uttered when nesting.

Adults are typically 75 cm long and white-plumaged, with some greyer areas on the wings. The bald head, the neck and legs are black. The thick down curved bill is dusky yellow.In breeding,plumage some slaty grey on scapulars and in wings and ornamental plumes at base of the neck. Sexes are similar, but juveniles have whiter necks and a black bill.

Gallery

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  Black-headed ibis searching for food

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  Ibis and Darter on flight

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  Ibis landing on a tree, India

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  Ibis flying very high

Further reading

• Grimmett, Inskipp and Inskipp; Birds of India. ISBN 0-691-04910-6