[2] Historically rare in urban areas, the Australian white ibis has established in urban areas of the east coast in increasing numbers since the late 1970s; it is now commonly seen in Wollongong, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Darwin, the Gold Coast, Brisbane and Townsville.

[4][5] Due to its increasing presence in the urban environment and its habit of rummaging in garbage, the species has acquired a variety of colloquial names such as "tip turkey"[6] and "bin chicken",[7] and in recent years has become an icon of Australia's popular culture, regarded with glee by some and passionate revulsion by others.

Many older guidebooks referred to the bird as a species, T. molucca, until a comprehensive review of plumage patterns by Holyoak in 1970.

It occurs in marshy wetlands, often near open grasslands and has become common in Australian east-coast city parks and rubbish dumps in the urban areas of Wollongong, Sydney, Perth, the Gold Coast, Brisbane and Townsville.

Historically, it was rare in urban areas – the first visits were noted after drought drove birds eastwards in the late 1970s, and there were no breeding records in Sydney until the 1980s.

[19] The Macquarie Marshes in north-western New South Wales used to be one of the main breeding areas of the bird, with 11,000 nests reported in 1998.

[20] The species has been able to colonise urban areas by reducing its fear response when in close proximity to humans, and by significantly widening its suite of food items to include human refuse – strategies that other closely related species such as the straw-necked ibis and the spoonbills have not replicated.

[2] Questions surrounding the origins of recent highly urbanised and closely human-habituated populations of the species are complicated by the establishment of free-flying exhibit flocks of formerly captive birds at a number of zoos and wildlife parks, including Sydney's Taronga Zoo, which first acquired birds for this purpose around 1971.

[19] Resident Sydney birds may have influenced newcomers fleeing from inland drought to adapt to new food sources in the city and to accept close proximity to humans.

[6] The first big colony set up in the Sydney suburb of Bankstown and started to cause anxiety in the local community.

Birds in tourist areas of Sydney, such as Darling Harbour, the Royal Botanic Gardens, and Centennial Park, have been a problem due to their strong smell.

Such behaviour, together with their propensity to build nests in "inappropriate" places, and competition with captive animals, led to surplus birds being relocated from Healesville Sanctuary to Sale.

[26] The Australian white ibis' range of food includes both terrestrial and aquatic invertebrates and human scraps.

The nest is a shallow dish-shaped platform of sticks, grasses or reeds, located in trees, generally near a body of water such as a river, swamp or lake.

[13] The ibis has become a popular symbol of Australian identity, and has been depicted on television, in art, and in online memes.

[36][37] In April 2022, Queensland sports minister Stirling Hinchliffe suggested the ibis as a potential mascot for the 2032 Olympic Games which are scheduled to be held in Brisbane.