Karavaika - Ibis

Karavaika - a bird from the ibis family.

It measures 48-66 cm in length, weighs 500-580 g, and has a wingspan of 80-95 cm. Adult birds are dark brown with a bronze and green metallic sheen. The bare part of the head is small, dark in color, and bordered by narrow white stripes. The beak, legs, and iris are dark. In autumn and winter, the plumage is duller, with white speckles appearing on the neck, head, and chest. Young birds are brown without sheen, with white streaking on the head and neck that fades with age.

The habitat of the karavaika includes fresh and slightly saline water bodies, extensive swamps, estuaries, shallow waters, and flood meadows. Typically, karavaikas forage in flocks, probing the silt in shallow waters; their diet mainly consists of aquatic invertebrates, and occasionally fish and amphibians. In the event of a mass appearance of locusts, they switch to collecting this terrestrial food.

They nest in dense thickets in large colonies with other birds such as spoonbills, pelicans, and herons. Both partners incubate a clutch of 3-6 dark greenish-blue eggs. The chicks hatch after three weeks. Both parents feed the chicks with regurgitated food, which the chicks obtain by climbing into the parents' esophagus. Often, in the case of clutch failure, karavaikas will lay a second clutch. Once the chicks fledge, both old and young birds form large flocks and migrate within the nesting area.

Autumn migration occurs in August-September, with adults flying separately from the young; sometimes karavaikas form flocks of thousands of birds, concentrating along coastal areas. Young birds resemble adults but are duller. They reach sexual maturity at 2 years, with a record lifespan of 21 years.

Red Book