It was a clear and sunny Saturday, a perfect day for birding. So we decided to venture out somewhere close to look for birds. The Auburn Botanical garden provided the perfect place. The gardens are beautiful with plenty of birds and the biggest flock turned out to be that of the Australian White Ibis (Threskiornis moluccus ). The bird resembles the black headed Ibis that we so frequently see in India, and initially I though it was the very same bird. In Australia this Ibis is now slowly turning into an urban bird, and shifting to the cities from their otherwise marsh land. During breeding seasons, the bird is known to come and snatch food from the hands of visitors.
Visually one difference that I noticed between the black headed and white Ibis were the presence some bare patches on the back of the head and neck, in the White ibis. The Black headed Ibis has a complete black head. The birds here are quite bold and if one seems non threatening, they let you approach quite close.
