| Kingdom | Phylum | Class | Order | Family |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ANIMALIA | CHORDATA | AVES | CICONIIFORMES | ARDEIDAE |
| Scientific Name: | Bubulcus ibis | ||||||
| Species Authority: | (Linnaeus, 1758) | ||||||
Common Name/s:
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| Red List Category & Criteria: | Least Concern ver 3.1 | ||||||
| Year Assessed: | 2009 | ||||||
| Assessor/s: | BirdLife International | ||||||
| Reviewer/s: | Bird, J., Butchart, S. | ||||||
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Justification: This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population trend appears to be increasing, and hence the species does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size is extremely large, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern. |
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| History: |
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| Countries: |
Native:
Algeria; Angola; Anguilla; Antigua and Barbuda; Argentina; Armenia; Aruba; Australia; Azerbaijan; Bahamas; Bahrain; Bangladesh; Barbados; Belize; Benin; Bermuda; Bhutan; Bolivia; Botswana; Brazil; Brunei Darussalam; Burkina Faso; Burundi; Cambodia; Cameroon; Canada; Cape Verde; Cayman Islands; Central African Republic; Chad; Chile; China; Cocos (Keeling) Islands; Colombia; Comoros; Congo; Congo, The Democratic Republic of the; Costa Rica; Côte d'Ivoire; Cuba; Cyprus; Djibouti; Dominica; Dominican Republic; Ecuador; Egypt; El Salvador; Equatorial Guinea; Eritrea; Ethiopia; Falkland Islands (Malvinas); France; French Guiana; Gabon; Gambia; Georgia; Ghana; Gibraltar; Greece; Grenada; Guadeloupe; Guam; Guatemala; Guinea; Guinea-Bissau; Guyana; Haiti; Honduras; Hong Kong; India; Indonesia; Iran, Islamic Republic of; Iraq; Israel; Italy; Japan; Jordan; Kazakhstan; Kenya; Korea, Democratic People's Republic of; Korea, Republic of; Kuwait; Lao People's Democratic Republic; Lebanon; Lesotho; Liberia; Libyan Arab Jamahiriya; Macao; Madagascar; Malawi; Malaysia; Maldives; Mali; Marshall Islands; Martinique; Mauritania; Mauritius; Mayotte; Mexico; Montenegro; Montserrat; Morocco; Mozambique; Myanmar; Namibia; Nepal; Netherlands; Netherlands Antilles; New Zealand; Nicaragua; Niger; Nigeria; Northern Mariana Islands; Oman; Pakistan; Palau; Palestinian Territory, Occupied; Panama; Papua New Guinea; Paraguay; Peru; Philippines; Portugal; Puerto Rico; Qatar; Réunion; Romania; Russian Federation; Rwanda; Saint Helena; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Martin (French part); Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Sao Tomé and Principe; Saudi Arabia; Senegal; Serbia; Seychelles; Sierra Leone; Singapore; Somalia; South Africa; South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; Spain; Sri Lanka; Sudan; Suriname; Swaziland; Syrian Arab Republic; Taiwan, Province of China; Tanzania, United Republic of; Thailand; Timor-Leste; Togo; Trinidad and Tobago; Tunisia; Turkey; Turkmenistan; Turks and Caicos Islands; Uganda; United Arab Emirates; United States; United States Minor Outlying Islands; Uruguay; Venezuela; Viet Nam; Virgin Islands, British; Virgin Islands, U.S.; Western Sahara; Yemen; Zambia; Zimbabwe
Introduced:
British Indian Ocean Territory; Jamaica
Vagrant:
Albania; Antarctica; Austria; Belarus; Belgium; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Christmas Island; Croatia; Czech Republic; Denmark; Finland; Germany; Hungary; Iceland; Ireland; Latvia; Liechtenstein; Lithuania; Luxembourg; Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of; Malta; New Caledonia; Norfolk Island; Norway; Poland; Russian Federation; Saint Pierre and Miquelon; Slovenia; Sweden; Switzerland; Tajikistan; United Kingdom; Uzbekistan
Present - origin uncertain:
Afghanistan
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| Range Map: | Click here to open the map viewer and explore range. |
| Population: | Total regarded as a minimum by Wetlands International (2006). |
| Habitat and Ecology: | Behaviour Most populations of this species are partially migratory, making long-distance dispersive movements related to food resources in connection with seasonal rainfall1. Other populations (e.g. in north-east Asia and North America) are fully migratory1, 5. The species breeds throughout the year in the tropics with different regional peaks1 depending on food availability2. It breeds colonially, often with other species, in groups that number from a few dozen to several thousand pairs, even up to 10,000 pairs in Africa1. The nesting effort of the species is related to rainfall patterns, leading to an annual variation in productivity2. Outside of the breeding season the species remains gregarious1, 4, feeding in loose flocks of 10-20 individuals4 and often gathering in flocks of hundreds or even thousands of individuals where food is abundant1. Nocturnal roosting sites in Africa commonly hold a few hundred to 2,000 individuals4. The species is a diurnal feeder1 and commonly associates with native grazing mammals or domesticated livestock2 and may follow farm machinery to capture disturbed prey1. Habitat The species inhabits open grassy areas such as meadows1, livestock pastures2, semi-arid steppe1 and open savanna grassland subject to seasonal inundation2, dry arable fields1, artificial grassland sites (e.g. lawns, parks, road margins and sports fields)2, flood-plains3, freshwater swamps, rice-fields, wet pastures1, shallow marshes2, mangroves3 and irrigated grasslands (with ponds, small impoundments, wells, canals, small rivers and streams)2. It rarely occupies marine habitats or forested areas1 although in Australia it may enter woodlands and forests, and it shows a preference for freshwater6 although it may also use brackish or saline habitats2. It occurs from sea-level up to c.1,500 m2 or locally up to c.4,000 m (Peru)1. Diet Its diet consists primarily of insects such as locusts, grasshoppers1, beetles, adult and larval Lepidoptera, Hemiptera, dragonflies3 and centipedes but worms4, spiders3, crustaceans, frogs, tadpoles, molluscs, fish, lizards, small birds, rodents and vegetable matter (e.g. palm-nut pulp) may also be taken1. Breeding site The nest is constructed of twigs and vegetation2 and is positioned up to 20 m high in reedbeds1, 2, marshes, mangroves, dense thickets2, bushes or trees1, 2, usually over or surrounded by water2. The species nests colonially in single- or mixed-species groups with the nests placed close or touching5. Management information The species can adversely affect the trees and bushes it uses for nesting, which may lead to the abandonment of the colony site if it is not managed2. |
| Systems: | Terrestrial; Freshwater |
| Major Threat(s): | Large colonies nesting in urban areas are perceived as a public nuisance and may be persecuted (e.g. by disturbance to prevent colony establishment, removal or direct killing)2. In its breeding range the species is threatened by wetland degradation and destruction such as lake drainage for irrigation and hydroelectric power production (Armenia)9, and in some parts of its range it is susceptible to pesticide poisoning (organophosphates and carbamates)8. Utilisation The species is hunted and traded at traditional medicine markets in Nigeria7. |
| Citation: | BirdLife International 2009. Bubulcus ibis. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 07 February 2012. |
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