The wattled ibis (''Bostrychia carunculata'') is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

in the family

Threskiornithidae The family Threskiornithidae includes 36 species of large wading birds. The family has been traditionally classified into two subfamilies, the ibises and the spoonbills; however, recent genetic studies have cast doubt on this arrangement, and ha ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the

Ethiopian highlands The Ethiopian Highlands (also called the Abyssinian Highlands) is a rugged mass of mountains in Ethiopia in Northeast Africa. It forms the largest continuous area of its elevation in the continent, with little of its surface falling below , whil ...

and is found only in

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

and

Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...

Description

The Wattled ibis is a medium-sized, dark brown, crested bird, distinguished by the combination of its dark color, its creast and its extensive white wing-patch. It has a relatively short bill, a fairly long tail and a thin wattle hanging from its throat. The basic color of the adult is dark brown. The brown face is feathered with a dusky red bill. The eye is red and surrounded by a white ring. Plumage is glossed dull green; the waddle is small and red, about 20 mm long. Body length is about 65–75 cm.

Range and habitat

They may occur all over Ethiopian highlands at altitudes ranging from 1500 m to the highest

moorland Moorland or moor is a type of Habitat (ecology), habitat found in upland (geology), upland areas in temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands and the biomes of montane grasslands and shrublands, characterised by low-growing vegetation on So ...

s at 4100 m. It has also been recorded on the coast of Eritrea. It prefers

meadow A meadow ( ) is an open habitat or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non- woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as they maintain an open character. Meadows can occur naturally under favourable con ...

s and highland river courses. It is often found in rocky places and

cliffs In geography and geology, a cliff or rock face is an area of rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are com ...

(where it roosts and breeds), but also in open country, cultivated land, city parks and olive tree (''

Olea africana ''Olea europaea'' subsp. ''cuspidata'' is a subspecies of the well-known olive tree ('' Olea europaea''), which until recently was considered a separate species (''Olea africana'') and is still mentioned as such in many sources. Native to mostly ...

'') and juniper ('' Juniperus procera'') mixed forests. It has also become well adapted to anthropic landscapes and conditions; it can be seen in green areas and lawns of for example down-town

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...

, year round. The wattled ibis is common to abundant.

General habits

The wattled ibis is a gregarious species, often flocking in groups of 30 to 100, but it also can be seen feeding alone or in pairs. It forages in open grasslands, marshes, open alpine moorlands, croplands and forest glades. When feeding it walks about methodologically, probing the ground regularly. It feeds on worms, insect larvae, and small invertebrates; occasionally

frogs A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough skin texture due to ...

snakes Snakes are elongated Limbless vertebrate, limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales much like other members of ...

and

mice A mouse (: mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...

. Sometimes it is seen with herds of domestic animals, searching dung for

beetles Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 40 ...

. It roosts singly or in pairs in trees, in groups on rock cliffs, often at sites of breeding colonies. The wattled ibis is predominantly sedentary, undertaking only local, altitudinal movements.

Breeding habits

The wattled ibis usually nests in small to large colonies on rocky cliffs, over bushes hanging in the walls, but it has also been reported to nest singly on top of trees or ledges of buildings. Few colonies are known above 3000 meters, and those in trees at lower elevations (1800 – 2000 m) in

Lake Awasa Lake Hawassa or Awasa, is an endorheic basin in Sidama Region of Ethiopia, located in the Main Ethiopian Rift south of Addis Ababa, the capital city of the country. According to the ''Statistical Abstract of Ethiopia for 1967/68'', the lake is ...

. In the

Bale Mountains The Bale Mountains (also known as the Urgoma Mountains) are mountain ranges in the Oromia Region of southeast Ethiopia, south of the Awash River, part of the Ethiopian Highlands. They include Mount Tullu Demtu, Tullu Demtu, the fourth-highest mou ...

there are nesting colonies of 500 or more birds. The nest is a platform of branches and sticks, lined with grass and strips of bark; sometimes at high and cold altitudes, they are located to the east for maximum exposure to morning sun. The wattled ibis breeds from March to July; and occasionally in December, during the dry season. It lays two or three rough shelled eggs which are dirty white in color.

Threats

No reduction in numbers nor any obvious threat have been reported and the species is often seen within bigger cities like Addis Ababa, not much disturbed by human activity. Therefore, it is not considered to be of conservation concern, since the population is rather large.

References

* Jose Luis Vivero Pol, 2006, ''A Guide to Endemic Birds of Ethiopia and Eritrea''. Shama Books. {{Taxonbar, from=Q926733 wattled ibis Birds of the Horn of Africa Fauna of the Ethiopian Highlands Ibises wattled ibis Taxonomy articles created by Polbot