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© Sedgwick County Zoo, credit: Dean Foy

Straw-necked Ibis

Threskiornis spinicollis

Physical Characteristics

  • The back and wings are black with a glossy-green sheen. Part of the neck, the undersides and the tail are white. Stiff, straw-colored plumes decorate the lower neck. The unfeathered head, back of the neck, throat, bill, feet and lower legs are black. The upper legs are pink to red.
  • Size of average adult
    • height: 2 feet
    • weight: 3 pounds
    • wingspan: 1 foot

Diet

  • Wild: aquatic and terrestrial insects, especially caterpillars, crickets, locusts, beetles and their larvae

Behavior

  • More commonly found in dry areas than other ibis species
  • Will follow insect swarms and grassland fires
  • Forage in grasslands, including city parks and road edges, swamps and cultivated land
  • Spend up to 75% of time feeding
  • Nest in areas that seasonally flood to take advantage of plentiful food
  • Nests made of sticks, reeds and rushes are built in low bushes or well-protected reed beds
  • Reproduction
    • breeding season: August to December
    • clutch size: 1 - 4 eggs
    • incubation: 24 - 25 days
    • both parents feed and brood the young, the feeding may continue up to 2 weeks after the young leave the nest

Environmental/Global

  • Habitat: grasslands, edges of marshes and wet grasslands
  • Distribution: Australia
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