Threskiornithidae

[‚thres·kē·ȯr′nith·ə‚dē] (vertebrate zoology) The ibises, a family of long-legged birds in the order Ciconiiformes.

Threskiornithidae

a family of birds of the order Ciconiiformes. The Threskiornithidae are medium-large birds. They have a long bill that is either curved downward (ibises) or straight and flattened with a broadened tip (spoon-bills). In some representatives of the family part of the head and neck is bare, with brightly colored skin. The legs are long, and the toes are joined at the base by a short membrane. The family includes 20 genera, comprising 32 species. The Threskiornithidae are distributed in swampy locations in the tropics and part of the temperate belt. They nest in colonies in trees, in reeds, and more rarely on cliffs, laying two to three eggs. The young are helpless when they hatch and remain in the nest a long time. The birds feed on small fish, frogs, mollusks, worms, and insects. The glossy ibis (Plegadis falcinellus) and the spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia) nest in the USSR. The sacred ibis (Threskiornis aethiopica) has been known to fly as far as Transcaucasia and the lower reaches of the Volga. The Japanese ibis (Nipponia nippon) was formerly found in southern Primor’e, but it apparently no longer nests in the USSR.

REFERENCES

Tugarinov, A. la. “Veslonogie aistoobraznye, flamingo.” In Fauna SSSR: Ptitsy, vol. 1, fasc. 3, no. 33. Moscow-Leningrad, 1947.
Ptitsy Sovetskogo Soiuza, vol. 2. Edited by G. P. Dement’ev and N. A. Gladkov. Moscow, 1951.

Threskiornithidae

Threskiornithidae