This species inhabits inland freshwater areas, like marshes, bogs, ditches, wet or irrigated grassland, occasionally creeks, but only rarely coastal areas and saltwater habitats (Richardson 1990, Jennings 2010, Aspinall and Porter 2011). Particularly the resident population is well adapted to humans and can be considered commensal; when feeding, it often visits human sites, including crop fields, livestock enclosures, rubbish dumps and gardens (Jennings 2010). Its diet consists primarily of insects and small reptiles (Jennings 2010). The species is a diurnal feeder (del Hoyo et al. 1992). It breeds colonially; in Dubai, the colony is shared with breeding Sacred Ibis Threskiornis aethiopicus (del Hoyo et al. 1992, Jennings 2010). The timing of the breeding season in eastern Arabia is not known; in general, the species may breed throughout the year with different regional peaks depending on food availability (del Hoyo et al. 1992, Kushlan and Hancock 2005). The nesting effort of the species is related to rainfall patterns, leading to an annual variation in productivity (Kushlan and Hancock 2005). The nest is constructed of sticks and positioned in a bush or tree, preferably acacia, tamarisk or ghaf (Jennings 2010). In Arabia, clutches contain two to three, seldom up to five eggs (Jennings 2010). Outside of the breeding season the species remains gregarious (Brown et al. 1982, del Hoyo et al. 1992).