(Threskiornis spinicollis)
Length: 70 cm Moderately Common
The Straw-necked Ibis is a large waterbird with a naked black head, long down curved black bill and yellow throat plumes. It has a glossy blue-black back, with metallic purple, green and bronze sheen, a white nape and sides of neck and white underparts. The straw like neck feathers distinguish it from other ibises.
Its preference for grassland insects such as grasshoppers and locusts have earnt it the name of Farmers Friend. It nests in trampled reeds over water and will often reuse nest over many years. Both sexes incubate eggs and feed the young.
