page_title: Australian white ibis
section_title: Behaviour
hierarchical_section_title: Australian white ibis / Behaviour
caption_attribution_description: Threskiornis molucca English: An Australian White Ibises nesting at Coolart Wetlands, Mornington Peninsula, Australia.
context_page_description: The Australian white ibis is a wading bird of the ibis family, Threskiornithidae. It is widespread across much of Australia. It has a predominantly white plumage with a bare, black head, long downcurved bill and black legs. Its sister species is the African sacred ibis.
  Historically rare in urban areas, the Australian white ibis has migrated to urban areas of the east coast in increasing numbers since the late 1970s; it is now commonly seen in Wollongong, Sydney, Melbourne, Darwin, the Gold Coast, Brisbane and Townsville. In recent years the bird has also become increasingly common in Perth, Western Australia, and surrounding towns in south-western Australia. Populations have disappeared from natural breeding areas such as the Macquarie Marshes in northern New South Wales. Management plans have been introduced to control problematic urban populations in Sydney.
  Due to its increasing presence in the urban environment and its habit of rummaging in garbage, the species has acquired a variety of colloquial names such as "tip turkey" and "bin chicken", and in recent years has become an icon of Australia's popular culture, regarded with glee by some and passionate revulsion by others.
caption: Nesting at Coolart Wetlands, Mornington Peninsula, Australia
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