Black-headed Ibis

SCI Name:  Threskiornis melanocephalus
Protonym:  Tantalus melanocephalus IndexOrn. 2 p.709
Taxonomy:  Pelecaniformes / Threskiornithidae / Threskiornis
Taxonomy Code:  blhibi1
Type Locality:  India. Nepal, India, Sri Lanka (Ceylon), southern Manchuria south
Author:  Latham
Publish Year:  1790
IUCN Status:  Near Threatened

DEFINITIONS

THRESKIORNIS
(Threskiornithidae; Ϯ Sacred Ibis T. aethiopicus) Gr. θρησκεια thrēskeia  religious worship  < θρησκευω thrēskeuō  to worship; ορνις ornis, ορνιθος ornithos  bird; "Ibis, I. æthiopica, Lath. should form the type of a distinct division, to which I give the name of THRESKIORNIS (1842).  T. æthiopica (Lath.), G. R. Gray" (G. Gray 1842). The Sacred Ibis was venerated by the ancient Egyptians, who, by reason of its crescent-shaped bill and bright white plumage, considered it to represent Thoth the moon god. Cabard & Chauvet 2003, relate that Thoth was also the patron of scribes, and that the long bill of the ibis represented the pens or quills with which they wrote.
Var. Thresciornis, Threschiornis, Thereschiornis, Thereshiornis, Threscornis.
Synon. Apterornis, Borbonibis, Carphibis, Ibis, Ornithaptera, Setibis.

melanocephala / melanocephalon / melanocephalos / melanocephalum / melanocephalus
Gr. μελας melas, μελανος melanos  black; -κεφαλος -kephalos  -headed  < κεφαλη kephalē  head.
● ex “Black-headed Shrike” of Latham 1783 (syn. Brachypodius atriceps).
● ex “Pato cabeza negra” of de Azara 1802-1805, no. 438 (syn. Heteronetta atricapilla).
● ex “Manakin à tête noire de Cayenne” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 303, fig. 1 (syn. Manacus manacus).
● "44. PSITTACUS.  ...  melanocephalus.  33. P. brachiurus viridis subtus luteus, pileo nigro, pectore albo. Mus. Ad. Fr. 2. p.  Psittacus coccineus, ventre albo. Edw. av. 169. t. 169.  Habitat in Mexico." (Linnaeus 1758) (Pionites).
● "96. LOXIA.  ...  melanocephala.  26. L. lutea, capite atro.  Coccothraustes gambogia. Alb. av. 3. p. 58. t. 62.  Habitat in Gvinea." (Linnaeus 1758) (Ploceus).
● ex “Pluvian du Sénégal” of d’Aubenton 1765-1781, pl. 918, and de Buffon 1770-1786, and “Black-headed Plover” of Latham 1785 (syn. Pluvianus aegyptius).
● ex “Black-headed Ibis” of Latham 1787, and “Tantalus de Macé” of Cuvier 1804 (Threskiornis).
● ex “Black-headed Roller” of Latham 1787 (syn. Urocissa erythrorhyncha).
● ex “Pie Bleue à Tête Noire” of Levaillant 1800, pl. 58 (unident.; ?syn. Urocissa sp.).