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

ibis The ibises () (collective plural ibis; 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 in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

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

rainforests Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainforest ...

tropical Africa Although tropical Africa is mostly familiar to the West for its rainforests, this biogeographic realm of Africa is far more diverse. While the tropics are thought of as regions with hot moist climates, which are caused by latitude and the tropi ...

means that it is seldom seen and is vulnerable to

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal 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. The most concentrated d ...

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 Plac ...

. 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. It contains the following five species: Conservation Four of these species are evaluated as Least Concern stat ...

'',

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 a iridescent sheen. Four subspecies are recogn ...

São Tomé ibis The São Tomé ibis (''Bostrychia bocagei''), also known as the dwarf olive ibis or the dwarf ibis, is endemism, endemic to São Tomé Island, São Tomé off the western coast of Central Africa and exists inside the Gulf of Guinea. Discovered in t ...

hadada ibis The hadeda ibis (''Bostrychia hagedash'') 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 trees. Altho ...

and wattled ibis, 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 , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of th ...

, the

Republic of the Congo The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...

, the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

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

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea ( es, Guinea Ecuatorial; french: Guinée équatoriale; pt, Guiné Equatorial), officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea ( es, link=no, República de Guinea Ecuatorial, french: link=no, République de Guinée équatoria ...

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north ...

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

Guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...

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 its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

, and

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

. 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, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and 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 ...

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 has the ability to eat and survive on both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize the nutri ...

and feed on some plant material, along with various small

crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group ...

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

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

larvae A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

and a variety of

beetle Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

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 Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

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 In biology, altricial species are those in which the young are underdeveloped at the time of birth, but with the aid of their parents mature after birth. Precocial species are those in which the young are relatively mature and mobile from the mome ...

; 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 and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

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 categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

. 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 spot-breasted ibis Taxonomy articles created by Polbot