Black-headed ibis - Threskiornis melanocephalus

Common Name :	Black-headed ibis, Oriental white ibis, Indian white ibis.
Binomial Name :	Threskiornis melanocephalus
Family :	Threskiornithidae
Bengali Name :	Kalo matha kastechora (কালোমাথা কাস্তেচরা).
Photo Taken :	Bangladesh

Black-headed ibis is a white colored bird that can be easily confused with the heron or egrets, but luckily their distinctive black head and the bill is easy enough to identify them. This bird is native in South Asia and East Asia (around the coastal line and wetlands). Binomial name of the bird is Threskiornis melanocephalus and it belongs to the bird family Threskiornithidae.

An Ibis is seen with Ruddy shelduck.

Black-headed ibis (Threskiornis melanocephalus) is a large sized bird (can grow around 75cm long) having most part is white in color, except the black head, neck, bill, and the feet. The head of the bird is bald. The bill and the neck forms a shape of sickle. Both male and female birds are same looking. Although the juvenile birds are having white feathers around neck.

Black-headed ibis (Threskiornis melanocephalus) is a bird from the wetlands, specially they are found around the coastal line. They are always seen wading around the muds and hunting the fishes, frogs, worm, snail, and other water creatures. Using their long bill and can easily poke it through the mud and fetch the prey from there. This bird is a gregarious bird and found with other wading birds during hunting.

An Ibis hunting with a Sandpiper.

Being a gregarious bid the Black-headed ibis (Threskiornis melanocephalus) makes their nest in a group. They prefer to change location depending upon the abundance of the food. The breeding season can vary depending upon the location. In South Asian the breeding season for this bird is June to October. They make nest in trees near the wetlands. A female lays 2-4 eggs in a clutch.

A group of Ibis birds beside paddy fields..

Photos of Black-headed ibis (Threskiornis melanocephalus) were taken from the following location of Bangladesh.
1. December 2014: Bhola.


This article has written by Lonely Traveler,
for the blog http://icbird.blogspot.com/