Study of Common Behaviors of Australian White Ibis (Threskionis Molucca) From Macquarie Lake.

Samylly Emanuelly Lourenco de Sousa ID:43476295

Study of common behaviors of Australian white ibis (Threskionis molucca) from Macquarie Lake.

Introduction

The Australian white ibis (Threskiornis molucca) is a large aquatic bird

which is naturally common to some islands of Indonesia such as Solomon and

Moluccas, New Guinea and Australia, except in the arid interior (Corbe &

Munro, 2008). Their natural breeding areas are in Inland wetlands (Shaw,

1999). Therefor, these birds usually have as natural habits freshwater

wetlands and protected marine environments as mangroves, estuaries and

intertidal mudflats (Marchant & Higgins, 1990 cited in Corbe & Munro, 2008).

The common feeding of white ibis are aquatic invertebrates, but also small

fishes, mammals and reptiles (Carrick 1959; Morris 1973; Vestjens 1973;

Cowling 1974 cited in Munro & Smith, 2008). They are colonial animals and

they construct their nest in trees and shrubs or in the ground if protected

against predators (Shaw, 1999 para. 1). Since 1950s the ibis start to invade

Australia and today they have occupied many cities around the east cost of

Australia, including the major coaster cities (Corben & Munro, 2008; Munro &

Smith, 2010)

According to Martin, French and Major (2007, para. 2) the main reason

of the invasion of white ibis in the urban areas could be due to “the

exploitation of recently discovered resources”, which have promoted a

migration event as well as the decline of these resources in the usual habitats

due to the scarcity and land- management practice (para. 2). The enormous


behavior plasticity and their tolerance to humans have contributed to the

epidemic state of the ibis in the cities, including in regions where they were

uncommon (Bekle 1982; Ross 2004; Shaw and Murray 2004 cited in Corben

& Munro 2008). Many studies have been conducted in order to control and

reduce the increase of these birds along the cities (Martin et al. 2007 cited in

Munro & Smith, 2011). However the comprehension of the behavior of this

specie is fundamental to understand their increase and how to manage it.

Findings

Table 1. Ethogram describing the behaviors observed in the Australian white ibis (Threskiornis molucca) from the Macquarie Lake. The observations were made in two days, 05th and 06th October. In the first day the observations started at 01:50 pm and finished at 05:10 pm. In the second day they started at 12:46 pm and finished at 04:00 pm.

Categories Behaviors Abreviation Description

Eating ETThe animal catches the food with the beak with a lateral position and swallows.

Foraging

Drinking DK

The animal enters in the lake or in the border of the lake and dips its beak in the water. Then, the bird raises the head and swallows.

Walking WKThe animal walks around the lake and sometimes until the campus Hub.

Watching

Observing OB

The animal stands in booth or in one foot and contracts the neck. The bird maintains this position for long time, usually observing the movements around.

Scratching SCThe animal uses the beak scratch the body. Usually in the tail and abdomen.

Jumping JPThe animal jumps between the rocks on the border of the lake.


Flying Flying FLThe bird makes small flies between the trees and the groud.

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

Time in hours

Foraging

Eating Drinking Walking Observing Scratching Jumping Flying

Watching Flying

Fig. 1. Distribution of daily time spent in different behaviors by Australian white ibis (Threskiornis molucca ) from Macquarie Lake. A sample of six animals was observed during two days, 05th and 06th October, three animals per day. Each individual was observed during one hour. The observations in the first day started at 01:50 pm and finished at 05:10 pm and in the second day started at 12:46 pm and finished at 04:00 pm. The survey method used was the focal animal sampling.

According to the ethogram draft and the time budget presented above

the normal behaviors presented by the white ibis found in the Macquarie Lake

is usually watching and foraging. Activities as walking, eating and drinking are

very common and sometimes they spent 1 hour or more in these activities. As

the Macquarie Lake is a region where there is frequently human presence


these birds usually spent most of their time foraging because many people

have the habit to feed the birds, which will contribute to the increase of these

animals in that region. Therefore, the presence of the ibis in the Macquarie

Lake and around the campus Hub increase in the lunch time and usually

decrease in when the number of people is low.

The foraging activities of the ibis usually are individual, but some

activities in group were observed. The animals seem not be concern with the

presence of their conspecific and not compete each other for food; even

though, they maintain a distance of approximately 1 meter, minimum, of their

conspecifics when they are foraging. Fights for food probably are uncommon

in this activity or inexistent.

The watching behavior is also very frequent in these animals. They

sometimes stand in one foot and contract their necks. However this posture is

not frequent. Usually the birds stand in booth feet and stay in the same place

for one hour or more. Also, lay down in the ground is another display

observed to it behavior. Some animals have presented this display, but the

most commons were stand in one foot or in booth.

Another behaviors such as scratching, jumping and flying also were

noticed. The animals use their long beaks to scratching their bodies. Usually

they scratch the regions of the tail and abdomen and they wiggle their heads

back to do this activity. After scratch they “comb” the feathers with the beak.

Scratching seems to be a very frequent activity to these animals.


Jumping between rocks is also common. They usually have presented

this behavior when they were in group or in pairs. According to the

observations this behavior have been presented in two situations: when the

animal are escaping from another conspecific or trying to get attention from it.

During the observation small flies were noticed. The ibis from Macquarie Lake

usually fly small distances, for example, from the ground to a tree (usually the

tree near to the lake) and vice-versa. When they are in the trees they stay

generally in groups or pairs. Although flying behavior has been displayed, this

kind of behavior was not very common in the sample observed.

In summary, the white ibis is a very common specie in the urban areas

since the past decades and the Macquarie Lake area present a large number

of these individuals. The birds from Macquarie Lake usually spent great part

of the time in foraging and watching activities. The presence of humans may

have influence in this fact since it many people feed the birds. These activities

sometimes are developed in group or individually. Another behavior such as

jumping, flying and scratching were also observed, but with less frequency.

References:

Corben D T & Munro U 2008, ‘The abundance and movements of the

Australian white ibis Threskiornis molucca in an urban environment’, Corella,

vol. 32, no. 3 / 4, May, pp. 58-65.


French K ,Martin J M, Major R E 2007, ‘The pest status of Australian white

ibis (Threskiornis molucca) in urban situations and the effectiveness of egg-oil

in reproductive control’, Wildlife Research, vol. 34, pp.319-324

Munro, U & Smith, A C M 2011, ‘Local and regional movements of the

Australian White Ibis Threskiornis molucca in eastern Australia’, Corella, vol.

35, no. 4, February, pp. 89-94.

Munro U & Smith A C M 2008, ‘Cannibalism in the Australian Pelican

(Pelecanus conspicillatus) and Australian White Ibis (Threskiornis molucca)’,

Waterbirds, vol. 31, no. 4, pp. 632-35.

Shaw, P P 1999, ‘Integrated management systems for australian white ibis

(Threskiornis Molucca) on the gold coast, Queensland, Australia’, Bird Strike

Committee-USA/Canada, vol. 5, no.1, January, pp.1-9.


Raw data sample

Study of Common Behaviors of Australian White Ibis (Threskionis Molucca) From Macquarie Lake.

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