Red-naped Ibis

The red-naped ibis is a large black bird with long legs and a long downcurved bill. The wing feathers and tail are black with blue-green gloss while the neck and body are brown and without gloss. A white patch on the shoulders stands out and the top of the featherless head is a patch of bright red warty skin. The warty patch, technically a caruncle, is a triangular patch with the apex at the crown and the base of the triangle behind the nape that develops in adult birds. The iris is orange red. Both sexes are identical and young birds are browner and initially lack the bare head and crown. The bills and legs are grey but turn reddish during the breeding season. The toes have a fringing membrane and are slightly webbed at the base. They are usually silent but call at dawn and dusk and more often when nesting. The calls are a series of loud braying, squealing screams that descend in loudness. Nocturnal calling is rare and has been observed in urban settings. This species can be confused with the glossy ibis when seen at a distance but the glossy ibis is smaller, more gregarious, associated with wetlands and lacks the white on the wing and has a fully feathered head.

The red-naped ibis is widely distributed in the plains of the Indian subcontinent. In Rajasthan, it is common along the Aravalli mountains but entirely avoids using the trees on the mountains. The red-naped ibis uses lakes, marshes, riverbeds, irrigated farmlands, dry fallow fields, villages, towns and cities. More wetlands on the landscape attract a greater number of red-naped ibises, but birds forage largely in dry fields increasing use of wetlands for foraging during summer. In semi-arid areas, it is commonly seen in small flocks of 2–4, which could be family groups, with larger groups being relatively rare. Fewer ibises were counted in wetter locations and seasons. It is a common breeding resident in Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and the Gangetic plains. It extends into southern India but is not found in the forested regions or the arid zone of the extreme southeast of the peninsula or Sri Lanka. In lowland Nepal, most foraging red-naped ibis were seen in agricultural fields, but most nests were seen in forests. Red-naped ibis commonly use villages, towns and mega-cities seeking food, nesting and roosting. The red-naped ibis is largely diurnal in its foraging and other activities, at night roosting communally on trees or on islands. Nocturnal activities such as loud calling is rare. …

Early observers and investigations of stomach contents showed their diet to include crustaceans (prawns, crabs), insects (beetles, grasshoppers, crickets), scorpions, carrion and frogs. Subsequent additional observations have shown the red-naped ibis to be more omnivorous, feeding on carrion, insects, frogs, other small vertebrates, and grain. They forage mainly in dry open land and stubbly fields, sometimes joining egrets and other birds on land being tilled to feed on exposed earthworms, disturbed insects and dig for beetle grubs. They walk and like other tactile-feeding ibises, probe in the soft ground. The rarely wade in water but have been observed seeking out frogs hiding in crab holes. They feed commonly at garbage dumps eating mammal and bird carcasses. In small towns, red-naped ibis hunt adult Rock Pigeons and predate their eggs from nests on buildings. Near towns, ibises ate road kills and pulled out marrow of bones of cattle dead from collisions with traffic. During droughts they were seen feeding on carrion and insect larvae that were feeding on meat. They also feed on groundnut and other crops. In British India, indigo planters considered them useful as they appeared to consume a large number of crickets in the fields earning them the moniker "planter's friend". Adult and juveniles birds in Delhi dig into flowers of Bombax ceiba seemingly drinking nectar. …

The Tamil Sangam literature mentions a bird called the "anril" which was described as having a curved bill and calling from atop palmyra palms (Borassus flabellifer). Madhaviah Krishnan identified the bird positively as the black ibis and ruled out contemporary suggestions that this was a sarus crane. He based his identification on a line that mentions the arrival of anrils at dusk and calling from atop palmyra palms. He also pointed out ibises to locals and asked them for the name and noted that a few did refer to it as anrils. Sangam poetry also mentions that the birds mated for life and always walked about in pairs, one of the leading reasons for others to assume that this was the sarus crane, a species that is not found in southern India. A number of names in Sanskrit literature including "kālakaṇṭak" have been identified as referring to this species. Jerdon noted the local names of "karankal" and "nella kankanam" in Telugu and "buza" or "kālā buza" in Hindi. In British India, sportsmen referred to the species as the "king curlew", "king ibis" or "black curlew" and it was considered good eating as well as sport for falconers (using the Shaheen falcon). They would race and soar to escape falcons. Cultivators referred to the species as "planter's friend" based on the large number of crickets the ibises consumed on indigo plantations.