Ibises and Spoonbills (Threskiornithidae)

 

The Threskiornithidae includes 14 genera and 34 species of ibises and spoonbills. These are medium to large wading birds, with long neck and legs; the bill is long and decurved in the ibises, but straight and distinctively flattened in the spoonbills. The family is distributed in tropics, subtropics and some temperate areas around the world, except some remote islands.

Ibises and spoonbills occur near standing or slow-flowing fresh or brackish water, e.g., shallow lagoons, marshes, etc., nesting in trees or reedbeds in the vicinity. Most species are colonial. Nests are made of sticks or reed stems. Most species lay 2-5 eggs, and both parents incubate. Incubation lasts ca. 3 weeks, and the young remain in nest for 4-6 weeks. All Threskiornithidae feed on a wide range of aquatic invertebrates, small fish, amphibians, etc. Ibises catch their food by probing silt or mud, whereas spoonbills by swinging the bill from side to side in shallow water.

 

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