Threskiornis

Threskiornis is a genus of ibises, wading birds of the family Threskiornithidae. They occur in the warmer parts of the Old World in southern Asia, Australasia and Sub-Saharan Africa. They are colonial breeders, which build a stick nest in a tree or bush and lay two to four eggs. They occur in marshy wetlands and feed on various fish, frogs, crustaceans and insects.

Threskiornis
Australian white ibis, Darling Harbour, Sydney
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Pelecaniformes
Family: Threskiornithidae
Genus: Threskiornis
G.R. Gray, 1842
Type species
Tantalus aethiopicus
Latham, 1790
Species

T. aethiopicus
T. bernieri
T. melanocephalus
T. molucca
T. solitarius
T. spinicollis

Description

Adult Threskiornis ibises are typically 75 cm long and have white body plumage. The bald head, neck and legs are black. The bill is thick and curved. Sexes are similar, but juveniles have whiter necks duller plumage. The straw-necked ibis differs from the other species in having dark upperparts, and is some times placed in the separate genus Carphibis (Jameson, 1835) as Carphibis spinicollis. A flightless species, the Reunion ibis, became extinct in the 18th century.

Species

ImageScientific nameCommon NameDistribution
T. aethiopicusAfrican sacred ibisSub-Saharan Africa, southeastern Iraq, and formerly in Egypt
T. bernieriMalagasy sacred ibisMadagascar
T. melanocephalusBlack-headed ibisNorthern India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka east up to Japan
T. moluccusAustralian white ibisEastern, northern and south-western Australia
T. spinicollisStraw-necked ibisAustralia (except parts of Western Australia, South Australia, and south-west Tasmania), Indonesia and New Guinea
T. solitariusReunion ibisExtinct, lived on Réunion island

References

    • Lowe, Kim W. & Richards, Geraldine C. (1991). "Morphological variation in the Sacred Ibis Threskiornis aethiopicus superspecies complex". Emu. 91 (1): 41–45. doi:10.1071/MU9910041.
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