Giant Ibis

Description:

Listed as Critically Endangered under the IUCNredlist. I realise my images are not the best quality. However, the bird is able to be identified and it was not possible to approach the bird more closely as we did not wish to disturb it. I posted this spotting simply to bring attention to this wonderful bird that is Critically Endangered. "This is, by far, the largest of the world's ibises.....The adults have overall dark grayish-brown plumage with a naked, greyish head and upper neck. There are dark bands across the back of the head and shoulder area and the pale silvery-grey wing tips also have black crossbars. The beak is yellowish-brown, the legs are orange, and the eyes are dark red." (Wiki)

Habitat:

Sitting high in the tree at Tmatboey which is situtated in the Kulen Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary. It only nests in 5 different species of trees out of the the 78 different species in Tmatboey. These 5 trees are as follows: 1. Dipterocarpus intricatus (apparently the favourite tree), 2. Dipterocarpus obtusifolius, 3. Dipterocarpus alatus (Endangered), 4. Hopea odorata (Vulnerable), 5. Anisoptera costata (Endangered). The Giant Ibis only breeds in the rainy season.

Notes:

According to our guide from the Sam Veasna Center, there is a total of 600 individual birds around 6 different locations, and approximately 80% can breed - but not all successfully. Ibis rice that is sold commercially is grown in Tmatboey. It is named after the Ibises that are in this area. "This project provides local communities with an incentive to engage in conservation, by offering farmers a premium price for their rice if they agree to abide conservation agreements that are designed to protect the rare water birds and other species that use the protected areas." (http://programs.wcs.org/smpcambodia/Abou... ) "It has declined as a result of hunting and egg collecting, wetland drainage for agriculture and deforestation. Habitat conversion by large-scale economic land concessions was recently identified as the greatest threat to the species (Loveridge and Ty 2015). Clearance of very large areas of lowland dry forest, including parts of the Northern Plains (Preah Vihear Protected Forest, Kulen Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary) and other areas (Lomphat Wildlife Sanctuary, Western Siem Pang IBA, Snoul Wildlife Sanctuary, O Ya Dao Protected Forest [Loveridge and Ty 2015]) where the species occurs has already taken place for conversion to agro-industrial uses including rubber, cassava, wood pulp and teak plantations." (http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species... )