26-488: The Mulga Lands are an interim Australian bioregion of eastern Australia consisting of dry sandy plains with low mulga woodlands and shrublands that are dominated by Acacia aneura (mulga). The Eastern Australia mulga shrublands ecoregion is coterminous with the Mulga Lands bioregion. Located in inland New South Wales and Queensland , these are flat plains with some low hills and infertile sandy soil with
52-725: A broad front, for example across the Sahara Desert . Glossy ibis ringed in the Black Sea seem to prefer the Sahel and West Africa to winter, those ringed in the Caspian Sea have been found to move to East Africa, the Arabian peninsula and as far east as Pakistan and India. Numbers of glossy ibis in western India varied dramatically seasonally with the highest numbers being seen in the winter and summers, and drastically declining in
78-418: A brownish bill, dark facial skin bordered above and below in blue-gray (non-breeding) to cobalt blue (breeding), and red-brown legs. Unlike herons, ibises fly with necks outstretched, their flight being graceful and often in V formation . It also has shiny feathers. Sounds made by this rather quiet ibis include a variety of croaks and grunts, including a hoarse grrrr made when breeding. The glossy ibis
104-689: A cover of grasses and shrubs with mulga and eucalyptus trees. The region contains areas of wetland, most of them only seasonally flooded, these include Lake Wyara and Lake Numalla , the Currawinya Lakes , Lake Bindegolly and others on the Warrego and the Paroo Rivers , the latter of which in particular remains relatively unmanaged and in its natural state. The area has a very dry climate, with unpredictable low rainfall (450–650 mm per year). The plains are drained in three directions:
130-457: A danger of overgrazing while mulga leaves are used as livestock fodder and other trees are removed to create more grassland and to allow access to water sources. The mound springs are particularly affected by this. There are some areas of National Park, the largest of which is Currawinya, whose wetlands are especially important as bird habitats. Others include Hell Hole Gorge , Lake Bindegolly, Mariala , Thrushton , part of Welford , Idalia and
156-722: A few birds arrive there annually, mostly in the month of July; recently a pair bred amongst a colony of royal spoonbill . Glossy ibis have been a breeding species in Australia since the 1930s. In India, they are now a breeding species with colonies now seen in agricultural areas, in forested areas with bamboo thickets and breeding alongside other colonially nesting waterbirds. Year-long studies have also shown Glossy ibises to be foraging in agricultural wetlands and flooded farmlands in western India. Glossy ibises undertake dispersal movements after breeding and are highly nomadic. The more northerly populations are fully migratory and travel on
182-634: A growing trend for birds to winter in Britain and Ireland, with at least 22 sightings in 2010. In 2014, a pair attempted to breed in Lincolnshire , the first such attempt in Britain. The first successful breeding in Britain was a pair which fledged one young in Cambridgeshire in 2022. A few birds now spend most summers in Ireland, but there is no present evidence of breeding. In New Zealand,
208-462: A preference for marshes at the margins of lakes and rivers but can also be found at lagoons , flood-plains , wet meadows , swamps , reservoirs , sewage ponds, paddies and irrigated farmland. When using farmlands in western India, glossy ibis exhibited strong scale-dependent use of the landscape seasonally. They preferred using areas with >200 ha of wetlands during the summer, and using areas that had intermediate amounts of wetlands (50-100 ha) in
234-486: Is a water bird in the order Pelecaniformes and the ibis and spoonbill family Threskiornithidae . The scientific name derives from Ancient Greek plegados and Latin , falcis , both meaning "sickle" and referring to the distinctive shape of the bill. This is the most widespread ibis species, breeding in scattered sites in warm regions of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Atlantic and Caribbean regions of
260-620: Is a mid-sized ibis. It is 48–66 cm (19–26 in) long, averaging around 59.4 cm (23.4 in) with an 80–105 cm (31–41 in) wingspan. The culmen measures 9.7 to 14.4 cm (3.8 to 5.7 in) in length, each wing measures 24.8–30.6 cm (9.8–12.0 in), the tail is 9–11.2 cm (3.5–4.4 in) and the tarsus measures 6.8–11.3 cm (2.7–4.4 in). The body mass of this ibis can range from 485 to 970 g (1.069 to 2.138 lb). Breeding adults have reddish-brown bodies and shiny bottle-green wings. Non-breeders and juveniles have duller bodies. This species has
286-636: Is divided into 89 bioregions and 419 subregions. Each region is a land area made up of a group of interacting ecosystems that are repeated in similar form across the landscape. IBRA is updated periodically based on new data, mapping improvements, and review of the existing scheme. The most recent version is IBRA7, developed during 2012, which replaced IBRA6.1. This is a list of region and subregions under IBRA7. Region codes are given in parentheses, followed by area, where known. Images of regions are from IBRA6.1, pending creation of maps for IBRA7. Glossy ibis The glossy ibis ( Plegadis falcinellus )
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#1732779717942312-475: Is part of the project to revive Australia's population of the bilby , which in the park is protected from dingos and cats. This part of Australia is generally dry and when flooded Lakes Wyara and Numalla are important habitats for birds, being home to 250,000 birds of 40 species including the rainbow bee-eater , Australasian shoveller , freckled duck , musk duck , black swan , silver gull , Australian pelican , great egret , and glossy ibis . Together with
338-486: Is usually a platform of twigs and vegetation positioned at least 1 m (3.3 ft) above water, sometimes up to 7 m (23 ft) high, in dense stands of emergent vegetation, low trees, or bushes. 3 to 4 eggs (occasionally 5) are laid, and are incubated by both male and female birds for between 20 and 23 days. The young can leave the nest after about 7 days, but the parents continue to feed them for another 6 or 7 weeks. The young fledge in about 28 days. The diet of
364-463: The Brigalow Belt , the Mulga Lands are where most of Queensland's land clearing is occurring. 80% of the original plant cover is intact, especially in the drier inland west, as some areas of eucalyptus woodland have been cleared in the eastern side of the area. There are no endangered habitats in the mulga lands. However, most of the area is used for grazing sheep and cattle, so there is always
390-549: The Culgoa Floodplain National Parks . Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia The Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia ( IBRA ) is a biogeographic regionalisation of Australia developed by the Australian government's Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population, and Communities . It was developed for use as a planning tool, for example for
416-759: The 1980s. This species is migratory ; most European birds winter in Africa, and in North America birds from north of the Carolinas winter farther south. Though generally suspected to be a migratory species in India, the glossy ibis is resident in western India. Birds from other populations may disperse widely outside the breeding season. It is increasing in Europe. It disappeared as a regular breeding bird in Spain in
442-624: The Americas. It is thought to have originated in the Old World and spread naturally from Africa to northern South America in the 19th century, from where it spread to North America. The glossy ibis was first documented in the New World in 1817 ( New Jersey ). Audubon saw the species just once in Florida in 1832. It expanded its range substantially northwards in the 1940s and to the west in
468-497: The basin. The Mulga Lands are defined by their plant life and poor soil and as such are distinct from neighbouring ecoregions , the Brigalow Belt to the east and the Mitchell Grass Downs to the north, both of which have better soil and richer plant life. The Southeast Australia temperate savanna ecoregion lies to the south and southeast. The drier Simpson Desert and Tirari-Sturt stony desert ecoregions lie to
494-532: The better-watered parts that have more wildlife than the mulga acacia plains themselves. Eucalyptus trees found here include bimble box , coolibah , and silver-leaved ironbark . To the east of the Warrego River in Queensland the mulga lands merge into a heath of sand dunes. Throughout the mulga lands plant life quickly flourishes after rainfall and habitats revive and change. Currawinya National Park
520-497: The early 20th century, but re-established itself in 1993 and has since rapidly increased with thousands of pairs in several colonies. It has also established rapidly increasing breeding colonies in France, a country with very few breeding records before the 2000s. An increasing number of non-breeding visitors are seen in northwestern Europe, a region where glossy ibis records historically were very rare. For example, there appears to be
546-864: The eastern side by the Wallam , Nebine and Mungallala Creeks (tributaries of the Culgoa River ), and the Warrego and Paroo rivers into the Murray-Darling basin ; the southwest by the Bulloo River into wetlands near the Simpson Desert ; and finally the northern side by the Barcoo River towards Lake Eyre . The Great Artesian Basin lies below these plains and more rich patches of wildlife are found around mound springs stemming from
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#1732779717942572-539: The establishment of a national reserve system . The first version of IBRA was developed in 1993–94 and published in 1995. Within the broadest scale, Australia is a major part of the Australasia biogeographic realm, as developed by the World Wide Fund for Nature . Based on this system, the world is also split into 14 terrestrial habitats , of which eight are shared by Australia. The Australian land mass
598-467: The glossy ibis is variable according to the season and is very dependent on what is available. Prey includes adult and larval insects such as aquatic beetles , dragonflies , damselflies , grasshoppers , crickets , flies and caddisflies , Annelida including leeches , molluscs (e.g. snails and mussels ), crustaceans (e.g. crabs and crayfish ) and occasionally fish , amphibians , lizards , small snakes and nestling birds. This species
624-780: The monsoon likely indicating local movements to a suitable area to breed. Populations in temperate regions breed during the local spring, while tropical populations nest to coincide with the rainy season. Nesting is often in mixed-species colonies. When not nesting, flocks of over 100 individuals may occur on migration, and during the winter or dry seasons the species is usually found foraging in small flocks. Glossy ibises often roost communally at night in large flocks, with other species, occasionally in trees which can be some distance from wetland feeding areas. Glossy ibises feed in very shallow water and nest in freshwater or brackish wetlands with tall dense stands of emergent vegetation such as reeds, papyrus (or rushes) and low trees or bushes. They show
650-400: The other seasons, though did not necessarily forage in the wetlands. It is less commonly found in coastal locations such as estuaries, deltas, salt marshes and coastal lagoons. Preferred roosting sites are normally in large trees which may be distant from the feeding areas. When human persecution is absent they roost in cities, even using trees beside busy highways and other roads. The nest
676-450: The west. The mulga lands are sparsely populated and mostly used for grazing sheep and cattle. Mulga trees are a type of acacia which have adapted to efficiently collect the sparse rainfall, are the distinctive habitat of this ecoregion while the ground cover consists of shrubs and grasses. However the mulga lands are not uniform and there are micro-climates and patches of other kinds of habitat, especially areas of eucalyptus woodland in
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