is it obligatory or recommended to give sacrifice on eid al adha by head of family?

All praise be to Allah and may His blessings and peace be on His last messenger, Muhammad,

The opinion of the majority is that the ‘eid prayer is a communal obligation; if attended by some of the residents of a town, it becomes non-obligatory for the rest.  Hence, for the individual who knows that others will fulfill the obligation, it is a stressed sunnah.  Some scholars maintain it would still be mandatory. The least to be said is that it is a very emphasized sunnah, and that is because even women are encouraged to go out to witness it, including the virgins and menstruating ones: Umm 'Atiyah reports, "We were ordered to go out with the virgins and menstruating women to the two 'Eids in order to witness and take part in the good and the supplications of the Muslims. The menstruating women would be separated from the others." (Ag)  

As for the udhiyah (sacrifice), it is an emphasized sunnah, since the Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) never missed it in Madinah, as reported authentically by at-Tirmidhi from Abdullah ibn Omar that he spent ten years in Madinah consistently offering udhiyah. The Hanafis, as well as other scholars, consider it wajib (mandatory). Allah knows best.