Plegadis falcinellus - Glossy Ibis
Feather characters. Barbules are short (0.43-0.51 mm) and barbules contain stippled pigment. Pigment appears brown at low magnifications. Borders between cells are visible, but hardly swollen and thus too small to qualify as nodes. These nodal structures (20-28 per mm) have about the same size along the entire length of the barbules, only slightly decreasing towards the tip. Villi are absent and internodes are straight. Prongs are equally distributed along the barbule. The longer prongs can reach the same length as the adjacent internode.
Field characters. Size 55-65 cm. Weight: male 557-768 g, female 530-680 g (Dunning, 1993). Superficially similar to Curlew, but plumage almost uniformly black. At short distance, head, upperparts, wings, and tail glossed green. Black in winter duller, head and neck inconspicuously streaked white; juvenile similar but browner and with less white streaking. Flies on broad, rounded wings, with decurved bill, extended neck, and slightly drooping legs; in flight, rapid wing-beats alternated with glides.
Voice. Generally silent, but sometimes a harsh crow-like "gra-a-ak".
Distribution. Locally common breeding bird in small to large colonies. Map: see MapIt.
Habitat. Nests in trees, bushes and tall reeds in the vicinity of water. Frequents shallow lakes, lagoons, floodlands, deltas, rivers, estuaries, irrigated farmland and ricefields.
Food. Chiefly insects: flies, beetles, grasshoppers, crickets, dragonflies and caddisflies. Also takes leeches, molluscs, worms and crustaceans.