Threskiornis melanocephalus

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

Conservation Actions

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	AVES	CICONIIFORMES	THRESKIORNITHIDAE

Scientific Name:

Threskiornis melanocephalus

Species Authority:

(Latham, 1790)

Common Name/s:

English

–

Black-headed Ibis

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:

Near Threatened ver 3.1

Year Published:

2012

Assessor/s:

BirdLife International

Reviewer/s:

Butchart, S. & Symes, A.

Contributor/s:

Mahood, S. & Wang, Q.

Justification:
In common with most large wetland species in Asia, this species is undergoing a population reduction, which is suspected to be moderately rapid. It faces the full gambit of threats, from hunting and disturbance at breeding colonies to drainage and conversion of foraging habitats to agriculture. It consequently qualifies as Near Threatened.

History:

2008	–	Near Threatened
2006	–	Near Threatened
2004	–	Near Threatened

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	Threskiornis melanocephalus occurs in Japan (scarce non-breeding visitor), mainland China (probably breeds in Heilongjiang, but this is not confirmed; non-breeding visitors are rare along the east and south coasts, occasionally inland to Sichuan and Yunnan), Hong Kong (China) (regular winter visitor in small numbers with occasional summer records), Pakistan (scarce resident, principally in the Indus delta region), Nepal (frequent resident and summer visitor to the south-east), India (widespread and locally common in the west, scarce in the east; possibly increasing locally due to the spread of man-made wetlands), Sri Lanka (common resident in the lowlands, particularly the dry zone), Bangladesh (local visitor to coastal regions and the north-east), Philippines (rare non-breeding visitor to the south), Myanmar (uncommon but widespread non-breeding visitor, 730 counted in 1991), Thailand (formerly common resident, now uncommon winter visitor), Laos (only one record, a single bird prior to 1950), Vietnam (previously an abundant breeder, now a few large colonies remaining and still locally common), Cambodia (a fairly common resident in early 1960s; now scarce and local with small numbers breeding around Tonle Sap), Peninsular Malaysia (formerly occurred and probably bred in the west, but few recent records), Indonesia (scarce non-breeding visitor to Sumatra and northern Borneo, possibly breeding in Sumatra with c.2,000 birds estimated; numerous breeding colonies were recorded in Java early in the 20th century, but now local and declining (Collar et al. 2000). The Sumatran population is thought to have undergone a very rapid decline in recent decades (Iqbal and Hasudungan in press). While the East Asian population is extremely small (Q. Wang in litt. 2002 to Wetlands International 2002), those in South-East Asia and South Asia probably number fewer than 10,000 individuals each (Byers et al. 1995).
Countries:	Native: Bangladesh; Cambodia; China; Hong Kong; India; Indonesia; Malaysia; Myanmar; Nepal; Pakistan; Philippines; Russian Federation; Sri Lanka; Thailand; Viet Nam Vagrant: Japan; Korea, Republic of; Lao People's Democratic Republic; Mongolia
Range Map:	Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Population [top]

Population:	The population is estimated to number up to 10,000 individuals in south Asia, plus up to another 10,000 in south-east Asia and up to 100 in east Asia (Q. Wang in litt. 2002). This is likely to total fewer than 20,000 mature individuals, and so the population is placed in the band 10,000-19,999 mature individuals. This equates to 15,000-29,999 individuals in total, rounded here to 15,000-30,000 individuals.
Population Trend:	Decreasing

Population:

The population is estimated to number up to 10,000 individuals in south Asia, plus up to another 10,000 in south-east Asia and up to 100 in east Asia (Q. Wang in litt. 2002). This is likely to total fewer than 20,000 mature individuals, and so the population is placed in the band 10,000-19,999 mature individuals. This equates to 15,000-29,999 individuals in total, rounded here to 15,000-30,000 individuals.

Population Trend:

Decreasing

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	It inhabits freshwater marshes, lakes, rivers, flooded grasslands, paddy fields, tidal creeks, mudflats, saltmarshes and coastal lagoons, usually in extreme lowlands, but occasionally up to 950 m, tending to be nomadic in response to water levels and feeding conditions.
Systems:	Terrestrial; Freshwater; Marine

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	It is vulnerable to drainage, disturbance, pollution, agricultural conversion, hunting and collection of eggs and nestlings from colonies. A combination of these factors has probably caused the decline.

Major Threat(s):

It is vulnerable to drainage, disturbance, pollution, agricultural conversion, hunting and collection of eggs and nestlings from colonies. A combination of these factors has probably caused the decline.

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions:	Conservation Actions Underway Conservation actions to reduce chick and egg collection and other forms of disturbance to the breeding colony at Prek Toal (the only known breeding colony in South-east Asia) have been in place since the late 1990s, with permanent teams of protectors employed since 2001. Since 2001, c.95% of waterbird egg and chick collection has been prevented at Prek Toal. Conservation Actions Proposed Regularly monitor the population at selected sites across its range, particularly at important colonies. Asses the effects of the various threats on population levels. Conduct local education programmes to discourage hunting and disturbance, and to encourage the protection of nesting areas.

Conservation Actions:

Conservation Actions Underway
Conservation actions to reduce chick and egg collection and other forms of disturbance to the breeding colony at Prek Toal (the only known breeding colony in South-east Asia) have been in place since the late 1990s, with permanent teams of protectors employed since 2001. Since 2001, c.95% of waterbird egg and chick collection has been prevented at Prek Toal.

Conservation Actions Proposed
Regularly monitor the population at selected sites across its range, particularly at important colonies. Asses the effects of the various threats on population levels. Conduct local education programmes to discourage hunting and disturbance, and to encourage the protection of nesting areas.

Citation:	BirdLife International 2012. Threskiornis melanocephalus. In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 24 May 2013.
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