Threskiornis spinicollis

General description: 

The Straw-necked Ibis is a large waterbird with a naked black head, long down curved black bill and yellow throat plumes. It has a glossy blue-black back, with metallic purple, green and bronze sheen, a white nape and sides of neck and white underparts. Its preference for grassland insects such as grasshoppers and locusts have earnt it the name of Farmer's Friend. Immature dark brown, less barred, head and neck feathered dark brown.

Conservation status: 

Not Threatened.

Diagnostic description: 

The Straw-necked Ibis is a large waterbird with a naked black head, long down curved black bill and yellow throat plumes. It has a glossy blue-black back, with metallic purple, green and bronze sheen, a white nape and sides of neck and white underparts. Its preference for grassland insects such as grasshoppers and locusts have earnt it the name of Farmer's Friend. Immature dark brown, less barred, head and neck feathered dark brown.

Behaviour: 

VOICE: Silent away from nest; grunts or croaks at nest and hoarse rolling calls in flight: 'u-u-uh'.

Taxon biology: 

59-76 cm, 1100 -1500 g, wingspan 100-120 cm

Phylogeny: 

Taxonomy:

    Ibis spinicollis Jameson, 1835, Murray River, New South Wales. Often placed in monospecific genus Carphibis. Said to have hybridized with T. aethiopicus, but no details given. Monotypic. (source: Handbook of the Birds of World)
Distribution: 

Distribution:

    Australia; also non breeding visitor to southern parts of New Guinea; occasional visitor to Tasmania and several islands of Bass Strait.
Habitat: 

Prefers wet and dry grasslands, pastures, croplands and swamp or lagoon margins. It is rarely found on coastal shores, mudflats or mangroves and is generally less adaptable than the Australian White Ibis.

Trophic strategy: 

Feeds mainly on terrestrial invertebrates, especially grasshoppers and locusts. It will also take frogs, small reptiles and mammals. It forages by probing or takes prey from the surface of water bodies. It is rarely an opportunistic scavenger, unlike the Australian White Ibis.

Reproduction: 

Season very variable. The Straw-necked Ibis forms large breeding colonies, often with Australian White Ibises. The low nests are large trampled platforms of reeds, rushes and sticks over water, often blending together to form one continuous platform, and are re-used over many years. Both sexes build nests, incubate eggs and feed the young.

Scratchpads developed and conceived by (alphabetical): Ed Baker, Katherine Bouton Alice Heaton Dimitris Koureas, Laurence Livermore, Dave Roberts, Simon Rycroft, Ben Scott, Vince Smith