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Project Noah Nature School
Threskiornis moluccus molucca
King of the beach! The Australian White Ibis is a large ibis with a mostly white plumage and with a bare black head, long downcurved beak and black legs. Previously rare in urban areas but now increasing along the East Coast while disappearing from its original natural breeding areas, this bird polarizes communities as to whether it should be considered a pest or vulnerable.
Coastal beach with bushland behind.
The Sacred Ibis (T. aethiopicus) of Africa, the Black-headed Ibis (T. melanocephalus) of Asia, and the Australian Sacred Ibis have been shown to have different karyotypes. Since then the Australian White Ibis has been considered a full separate species from the other two. Pictures are of 2 different individuals (1-3, and 4), part of a group of several.
Spotted on Mar 25, 2013
Submitted on Dec 29, 2013
7 Comments
Thanks Cindy!
Lovely series and spotting, Daniele!
I like them too Mark. Their beak is fascinating!
True that Daniele :)
Weird heads but I like them. Interesting info. They're doing well with their numbers now.
Thank you for noticing Tiz :-) Project Noah is a tool to educate and inspire, as well as to document. I guess we all do things slightly differently here and there's value in that too: diversity!
I really like that you work with your spottings a little extra. There is always something interesting to read about what you upload. I wish more people would do that :)