Ibis gigante

Identificazione

True to its name, it is the largest extant ibis species. Adults are 102–106 cm (40–41.5 in) long and weigh about 4.2 kg (9.3 lb). Among standard measurements, the wing chord is 52.3–57 cm (20.6–22.4 in), the tail is 30 cm (12 in), the tarsus is 11 cm (4.3 in) and the culmen is 20.8–23.4 cm (8.2–9.2 in). The adults have overall dark grayish-brown plumage with a naked, greyish head and upper neck. There are dark bands across the back of the head and shoulder area and the pale silvery-grey wing tips also have black crossbars. The beak is yellowish-brown, the legs are orange, and the eyes are dark red. Juveniles have short black feathers on the back of the head down to the neck, shorter bills and brown eyes.<p>It has a loud, ringing call, frequently repeated around dawn or dusk, a-leurk a-leurk.

Tassonomia

Nome scientifico

Pseudibis gigantea

Autorità

(Oustalet, 1877)

Ordine

Pelecaniformi

Famiglia

Threskiornithidae

Genere

Pseudibis

Areale e habitat

The giant ibis is a lowland bird that occurs in marshes, swamps, lakes, wide rivers, flooded plains and semi-open forests as well as pools, ponds and seasonal water-meadows in denser deciduous forest. It generally is found in lowlands. One bird was collected in a Malay paddyfield. Formerly the giant ibis was believed to breed in eastern Thailand, central and northern Cambodia, southern Laos and southern Vietnam. It was still fairly common in the Mekong Delta until the 1920s but is now almost depleted, with a small remnant population breeding in Cambodia, southern Laos and possibly in Vietnam.

Migrazione

Resident species

Conservazione

Tendenza della popolazione

declining