NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD

Black-headed Ibis

Threskiornis melanocephalus (Latham, 1790)

Source-backed taxonomic record

Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.

Black-headed Ibis (Threskiornis melanocephalus) photographed in natural habitat, Tirunelveli, India. It is a near-threatened species of wading bird breeding in Asia from India to the west as far as Japan in the east.
A large waterbird with adults measuring 65-76 cm in length, it is the only native ibis species in its range that has an overall white plumage starkly contrasted against a conspicuous naked black neck and head and a black, down-curved beak. Tails of adults bear light grey ornamental feathers that turn black during the breeding season, as can be seen here.
Like storks and spoonbills — Black-headed Ibis (Threskiornis melanocephalus) photographed in natural habitat, Tirunelveli, India. It is a near-threatened species of wading bird breeding in Asia from India to the west as far as Japan in the east. A large waterbird with adults measuring 65-76 cm in length, it is the only native ibis species in its range that has an overall white plumage starkly contrasted against a conspicuous naked black neck and head and a black, down-curved beak. Tails of adults bear light grey ornamental feathers that turn black during the breeding season, as can be seen here. Like storks and spoonbills, it lacks a true voice-producing mechanism and is silent except for ventriloquistic grunts uttered by pairs at the nest. A versatile species that uses a large variety of natural and man-made habitats including freshwater and saltwater marshes, lakes and ponds, crop fields, irrigation canals, urban lakes and grazing lots, they are now categorized as Near Threatened (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as their population has declined considerably in southeast Asia.
Hari Krishnan · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image source
Provider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.

Open encyclopedia reference

The black-headed ibis (Threskiornis melanocephalus), also known as the Oriental white ibis, Indian white ibis, and black-necked ibis, is a species of wading bird of the ibis family Threskiornithidae which breeds in the South and Southeast Asia from India to the west and as far east as Japan. It is the only native ibis species in its range that has an overall white plumage with a black neck and head. The down-curved beak and legs are also black. Though often referred to as a wetland species, the black-headed ibis forages in a range of natural and man-made habitats. This species of ibis nests only during the rainy season.

Wikipedia contributors, Black-headed ibis; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T06:12:17.495681+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name: Threskiornis melanocephalus (Latham, 1790)
Name authority: (Latham, 1790)
Common name: Black-headed Ibis
Rank: species
Accepted status: accepted
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Pelecaniformes
Family: Threskiornithidae
Genus: Threskiornis
Extinction status: Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
kingdomAnimalia
phylumChordata
subphylumVertebrata
infraphylumGnathostomata
parvphylumOsteichthyes
megaclassTetrapoda
classAves
orderPelecaniformes
familyThreskiornithidae Poche, 1904
genusThreskiornis G. R. Gray, 1842
speciesThreskiornis melanocephalus (Latham, 1790)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Threskiornis. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Species	Classification	Source status
Malagasy Sacred IbisThreskiornis bernieri (Bonaparte, 1855)	ThreskiornithidaeChordata	Accepted speciesRecorded extant
Reunion IbisThreskiornis solitarius (de Sélys-Longchamps, 1848)	ThreskiornithidaeChordata	Accepted speciesRecorded extinct
Straw-necked IbisThreskiornis spinicollis (Jameson, 1835)	ThreskiornithidaeChordata	Accepted speciesRecorded extant
African Sacred IbisThreskiornis aethiopicus (Latham, 1790)	ThreskiornithidaeChordata	Accepted speciesRecorded extant

Browse 30 records assigned to Threskiornithidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Recorded name	Source status
Tantalus melanocephalus Latham, 1790 Latham, 1790	synonym

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Southern Asia

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=174944 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:56LQD. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.