Endangered
Malagasy sacred ibis
Threskiornis bernieri
The Malagasy sacred ibis is a relatively large, heavily built ibis endemic to the west coast of Madagascar, and Aldabra on the Seychelles.
Appearance
The plumage is predominantly white, often with brownish-yellow staining. There are also black ornamental plumes on the back with a blue or green gloss formed from the lower scapulars and tertials, that are most prominent in the breeding season. The bill, head, neck and legs are black.
The adult stands 65–89 cm (26–35 in) tall, with a wingspan of 112–124 cm (44–49 in).
Range and habitat
Apart from its occurrence on Aldabra, the Malagasy sacred ibis is sparsely distributed along and restricted to the west coast of Madagascar, especially between Port-Berge and Moromoe. The Malagasy sacred ibis is generally restricted to coastal mudflats, estuaries, mangrove swamps and shallow brackish coastal lakes. But is occasionally found on freshwater wetlands. In one survey, over 80% of individuals recorded were found within 2 km (1.2 mi) of the coastline.
On the Seychelles, the Aldabra atoll has been designated a Special Reserve.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Diet and breeding
It forages mainly on mud in tidal areas, thrusting its bill into the mud up to the eyes. Feeding is often solitary, although some individuals have been observed foraging in pairs or threes.
Egg-laying occurs at the beginning of the wet season in November and December. Average egg measurements for T. A. Abbotti have been reported as 59.5 mm (2.34 in) long and 41.3 mm (1.63 in) broad and weighing 55 g (1.9 oz).
In crisis
The Madagascan population has been markedly declining mainly through unsustainable harvesting of eggs, nest site disturbance and wetland habitat degradation. Human interference and habitat loss also pose threats to the abbotti race. Because nesting individuals are apparently fearless of humans, this species is an easy target for hunters.
Habitat loss and degradation pose another serious threat to the population. Important areas of this species' habitat are threatened with pollution, sedimentation and encroachment of alluvial sands.
Malagasy sacred ibis is Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.
Sources
Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Malagasy sacred ibis, Wikidata item Q368761. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.
