Crested Ibis
Nipponia nippon
A white, exotic-looking waterbird with a bright red face and raggedy crest. Adults are washed in gray during the breeding season. Most colorful in flight; underwings are tinged with soft orange. Inhabits paddy fields, wet meadows, and riversides, and breeds in nearby forests. Extremely restricted in range, the bulk of the wild population is restricted to a preserve in Yang’xian in China’s Shaanxi province, though reintroduction programs have been successful in Japan and other parts of China.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Nipponia nippon
- Authority
- (Temminck, 1835)
- Order
- Pelecaniformes
- Family
- Threskiornithidae
- Genus
- Nipponia
Range and habitat
At one time, the crested ibis nested in the Russian Far East, Japan, and Mainland China, and was a non-breeding visitor to the Korean Peninsula and Taiwan. It has now disappeared from most of its former range, and the only natural (non-reintroduced) population occurs in Shaanxi, China.
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
The last wild crested ibis in Japan died in October 2003, with the remaining wild population found only in Shaanxi Province of China, until the reintroduction of captive bred birds back into Japan in 2008. They were previously thought to be extinct in China as well, until their rediscovery in 1981.Extensive captive breeding programs have been developed by Japan and China to conserve the species. They are on China's State Protection List. In 2002, there were a total of 130 colonies in China. Northwest Shaanxi province's research center has a history of 26 crested ibis fledglings including artificial and natural incubation. On July 31, 2002, five out of seven crested ibis chicks hatched at an incubation center in northwest Shaanxi province. This was the highest ever recorded number of chicks that hatched. The parents of the chicks were chosen from 60 ibis pairs raised at that research center.<p>In the 1980s, the birds were decimated by overhunting, the use of pesticides, ongoing habitat loss, their already small population size, their limited range, winter starvation and persecution, which together brought the endangered species to the brink of extinction. The crested ibis has been listed in Appendix I of the conservation treaty CITES.<p>The London Zoo had crested ibises from 1872 until 1873. Outside China, only Japan and South Korea currently keep the species.[citation needed]
- Population trend
- rising
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Curve-billed Thrasher
Toxostoma curvirostre
Plain grayish-brown thrasher of the southwest U.S. and Mexico. Look for decurved bill and fairly faint round spots on breast and belly. Undertail coverts are slightly warmer buffy. Eye color varies from yellow to orange. Occurs in deserts and open, shrubby areas. Can be shy and skulking, but often perches atop a bush or cactus to sing. More common in suburban areas and parks than other thrashers in range. Most similar to Bendire’s Thrasher. Note Curve-billed has a slightly longer and more curved bill, and breast spots are slightly larger and rounder.
Sulu Pygmy Woodpecker
Yungipicus ramsayi
A small woodpecker of lowland wooded areas on the Sulu Islands. Dark brown above with some white spots on the back, a white rump, throat, and underparts with faint streaking, and buffy sides of the chest. Note the alternating dark brown and white stripes on the head, with a dark forecrown. Hind crown is dark in females and bright red in males. Unmistakable. No other similarly sized woodpeckers occur in its range. Voice includes a series of rapid notes in a forceful trill.
Mindoro Scops-Owl
Otus mindorensis
A fairly small owl of lower-elevation montane forest on the island of Mindoro, where it is the only scops-owl. Generally dark brown in plumage with a speckled pattern, warmer brown on the face and chest. Note the yellow eyes and short ear tufts. Mindoro Boobook is similar in size and color, but Mindoro Scops-Owl lacks the fine barring. Song is a medium-pitched, whistled “weeuuu” which rises and falls slightly and is repeated at intervals, often in response to another individual.
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