Sacred Ibis, from God to Pest

Birdorable Sacred Ibis

Today we've added the Sacred Ibis, a bird that lives in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Europe, where it was introduced. The Sacred Ibis is famous for its role in ancient Egyptian mythology, where it was often mummified as a symbol of the god Thoth, God of wisdom. In art, Thoth was often depicted as a man with the head of an ibis or a baboon. Its name means "He who is like the ibis".

Thoth

The bird may have been sacred in Egypt, but in Europe it is having a negative impact. An increasing population of Sacred Ibises in France and southern Europe are devastating breeding colonies of terns and herons. They also compete successfully for nest sites with Cattle Egrets and Little Egrets. In the late 1970s, just twenty Sacred Ibis were originally imported from Kenya to the Branféré Zoological Gardens in southern Brittany, France. A breeding colony was established and spread to neighboring wetlands. A census in 2005 revealed circa 3,000 of the birds.

Sacred Ibises
SACRED IBIS
Photo by Ruslou (via Flickr)

If you like this bird please check out our other Birdorable ibises.

Comments

little bird on October 23, 2010 at 10:21 AM wrote:
So cute! I love ibises!

Leave a comment

Comments with links or HTML will be deleted. Your comment will be published pending approval.
Your email address will not be published

Birdorable 187: Green Aracari

Today's addition in our Birdorable Bonanza is the Green Aracari, which lives in northeastern South America. It is one of the smallest toucans. These birds spend most of their lives in the highest trees of the...

Birdorable Rainbow Lorikeet in Western Australia

This Birdorable Rainbow Lorikeet in the wild is at Shark Bay in Western Australia. Deirdra is wearing a Birdorable Sweatshirt. Many thanks to Deirdra for sending in this great photo. Do you have...

A Real Loudbeak

The Corn Crake is a migratory species of rail that breeds across temperate parts of Eurasia and winters in southern Africa. When they return to their breeding grounds in the spring, male Corn Crakes call out...

California Quail Dreamin'

The California Quail is the latest bird to be cutified as a Birdorable. This beautiful bird, the state bird of California, lives on the west coast of North America and can be found from British Columbia southward to Baja California. The forward-drooping plume looks like a...