Hadeda, Ibis

The Hadeda squad came over and one settled in the upper branches of an old oak tree. He carefully eyed me as I made my way a bit closer, but he was way out of range, probably 40 feet up.
I have posted Hadeda blips before, and many times the blippers have commented that they know nothing about these birds. Below I posted a little info fresh from Wiki.

The Hadeda is a large (about 76 cm long), dark brown ibis with a white "moustache", glossy greenish purple wings, a large black bill with a red stripe on the upper mandible, and blackish legs.

The Hadeda Ibis is found throughout open grasslands savanna, and wetlands, as well as urban parks, school fields, green corridors and large gardens. The countries that this bird occurs in are Sudan, Ethiopia, Senegal, Uganda, Tanzania, Gabon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Gambia, Kenya, Somalia and South Africa.

It feeds mainly on earthworms, using its long scimitar-like bill to probe soft soil. It also eats larger insects, such as the Parktown-Prawn as well as spiders and small lizards. These birds also favour snails and will feed in garden beds around residential homes.


This morning we woke to sunny, clear blue skies with snow on the Cradock peak of the Outeniqua mountains. I would have loved to blip it, but there was no way of getting a decent picture of it with sun still very low on the northern horizon.

Although fairly chilly, it was a lovely sunny day!