The spot-breasted ibis (''Bostrychia rara'') is a small, forest-dwelling

ibis The ibis () (collective plural ibises; classical plurals ibides and ibes) are a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae that inhabit wetlands, forests and plains. "Ibis" derives from the Latin and Ancient Greek word f ...

found in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

n lowland forests and swampy forested areas. Its preference for dense

rainforests Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...

tropical Africa The Afrotropical realm is one of the Earth's eight biogeographic realms. It includes Sub-Saharan Africa, the southern Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, and the islands of the western Indian Ocean. It was formerly known as the Ethiopi ...

means that it is seldom seen and is vulnerable to

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal and destruction of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. Ab ...

Description

The spot-breasted ibis is a small, dark ibis (around ), with long legs and a long red

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Pl ...

. The adult has a long, loose crest at the back of its head, which is dark brown to black and glossy green. Its plumage varies, but most usually tends to be brownish-blue. The mantle is brown and edged buff, but with a shiny green color. The rump and tail are blue-green, and the tail is slightly blue-green. It has blue-black wings and black underwing. The scapulars and the inner secondaries have an iridescent bronze green. The best distinguishing feature is suggested by its name: the buff-spotted neck, breast and belly that are used as a diagnostic tool to identify the species. Otherwise, the upperparts are uniformly dark, with turquoise green spots in front of and behind the eyes (smaller in females); a similar colored streak crosses the face in line with the bill. Their wing length is 270–290 mm, their bill length is 115–130 mm and their tarsus length is 56–65 mm. Flying birds can be distinguished by their broad wings and short tail. The juvenile is duller, and has a shorter crest.

Taxonomy

The spot-breasted ibis is most closely related to the four other members of the genus ''

Bostrychia ''Bostrychia'' is a genus of ibises in the family Threskiornithidae. Member species are found in many countries throughout Africa. Species It contains the following five species: Conservation Four of these species are evaluated as Least Conce ...

'',

olive ibis The olive ibis (''Bostrychia olivacea'') is a species of ibis native to dense tropical forests in central Africa. Between 65 and 75 cm in length, it is a small ibis with olive plumage displaying an iridescent sheen. Four subspecies are recog ...

São Tomé ibis The São Tomé ibis (''Bostrychia bocagei''), also known as the dwarf olive ibis or the dwarf ibis, is a Critically Endangered, critically endangered bird that is endemism, endemic to São Tomé Island, São Tomé off the western coast of Central ...

hadada ibis The hadada ibis (''Bostrychia hagedash'') or hadeda () is an ibis native to Sub-Saharan Africa. It is named for its loud three to four note calls uttered in flight especially in the mornings and evenings when they fly out or return to their roost ...

and

wattled ibis The wattled ibis (''Bostrychia carunculata'') is a species of bird in the family Threskiornithidae. It is endemic to the Ethiopian highlands and is found only in Ethiopia and Eritrea. Description The Wattled ibis is a medium-sized, dark brown, c ...

, which are also all restricted to sub-Saharan Africa.del Hoyo, Elliott and Sargatal. 1992. Handbook of the birds of the world. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. In particular, the spot-breasted ibis is closely related to the

and

, and these three species are sometimes placed into their own genus, ''Lampribis''. There are no recognized subspecies of the spot-breasted ibis.

Habitat and distribution

The spot-breasted ibis is found in

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to Central African Republic–Chad border, the north, Sudan to Central African Republic–Sudan border, the northeast, South Sudan to Central ...

, the

Republic of the Congo The Republic of the Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo), is a country located on the western coast of Central ...

, the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. It has an area of . Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name refers to its location both near the Equ ...

Gabon Gabon ( ; ), officially the Gabonese Republic (), is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and ...

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

, and

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

. Although it is found across a wide range of territory is it not common and considered to be rare. In the areas where it is found it is a resident of that area, this means as a species they do not migrate and they live there all year long. Its

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

is in wooded

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

s or forested areas near streams.

Behavior

Spot-breasted ibises are difficult to observe because they are usually silent and solitary. When disturbed, they are often flushed from the ground to a nearby perch, where they remain silent. They are best located at dusk and dawn as they call in flight.

Vocalization

They are usually silent and furtive when feeding on the ground. At dawn and dusk birds call in flight, giving a loud, raucous "ha-han".

Diet

Spot-breasted ibises are

omnivorous An omnivore () is an animal that regularly consumes significant quantities of both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize ...

and feed on some plant material, along with various small

crustacean Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquatic arthrop ...

s and insects. Invertebrates consumed include grubs, worms, aquatic

snail A snail is a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial molluscs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name ''snail'' is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class Gas ...

larvae A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect developmental biology, development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typical ...

and a variety of

beetle Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 40 ...

s. Usually diurnal, although they occasionally feed at night by moonlight. Away from roosting sites, most individuals feed alone or in pairs. Like other ibises, the spot-breasted ibis probes through the mud in swamps and along banks of forest rivers and streams.

Reproduction

The

nests A nest is a structure built for certain animals to hold eggs or young. Although nests are most closely associated with birds, members of all classes of vertebrates and some invertebrates construct nests. They may be composed of organic materi ...

of the spot-breasted ibis are usually found about on tree branches one to six meters above ground or water. They are solitary nesters and generally lay two

eggs An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo begins to develop. Egg, EGG or eggs may also refer to: Biology * Egg cell, the female reproductive cell (gamete) in oogamous organisms Food * Eggs as food Places * Egg, Austria * Egg, Switzerland ...

at a time. Reproduction occurs throughout the year, except during long dry seasons when water levels are too low. For example, in Gabon birds laid in all months except July and August, with peaks in March–May and September–December. The peaks corresponded to the local rainy seasons. Incubation takes about 20 days. Chicks are independent about forty days after hatch. As with other ibises, chicks are semi-

altricial Precocial species in birds and mammals are those in which the young are relatively mature and mobile from the moment of birth or hatching. They are normally nidifugous, meaning that they leave the nest shortly after birth or hatching. Altricial ...

; they are born with blackish-brown down that is replaced at six days by thicker white down.

Conservation

Like many other birds in the Guineo-Congolian region the spot-breasted ibis is subject to

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

and fragmentation.G. Angehr et al., 2006. Bird surveys of Gamba complex of protected areas, Gabon. Bulletin of the Biological Society of Washington. 12: 327Dowsett, R.J., Dowsett-Lemaire F., 2000. Birds of Lobeke faunal reserve, Cameroon and its regional importance for conservation. Bird Conservation International. 10: 67-68 Deforestation has destroyed much of the dense rain forest these birds prefer. Hunters have also had a negative impact on the success of this species. The database entry includes justification for why this species is

Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...

. For example, fishermen are known to take nestlings. Nonetheless, the species is considered not globally threatened.

References

External links

Image, call and description
- Planetofbirds.com {{Taxonbar, from=Q927624 spot-breasted ibis Birds of the African tropical rainforest spot-breasted ibis Ibises spot-breasted ibis Taxonomy articles created by Polbot