African Sacred Ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus)

Other Names (World)
African Sacred Ibis, Sacred Ibis, Madagascar Ibis (bernieri), Madagascar Sacred Ibis (bernieri), Aldabra Ibis (abbotti), Aldabra Sacred Ibis (abbotti)

Family
Threskiornithidae (Ibises, Spoonbills)

Size
65 - 89 cm

First Described (Guide)
(Latham, 1790)

Range (Guide)

Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cote dIvoire, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Djibouti, Egypt (E) (B), Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-bissau (B), Iran [Islamic Republic of] (NB), Iraq (B) (NB), Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania [United Republic of] (B), Togo, Uganda, Yemen (B) (NB), Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Vagrant to Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait (NB), Oman (NB), Saudi Arabia (NB).

Introduced to Bahrain (B) (NB), France (B).

Population
Estimated population is 200,000 - 450,000 (2011).

Status LC
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Voice
Loud croaking calls at colonies.

Xeno-Canto Sound Files (more (9)...)

African Sacred Ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus) [XC309388]
by Nature sounds by Simply Birding from Grahamstown, Western District, Eastern Cape, South Africa (begging call)

African Sacred Ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus) [XC515436]
by Tony Archer from Houdenbek Farm campsite, Breede River DC, Cape Winelands, Western Cape, South Africa (call)

Subspecies
Threskiornis aethiopicus (Sibley and Monroe 1993) has been split into African Sacred Ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus) and Madagascar Sacred Ibis (Threskiornis bernieri) following Sibley and Monroe (1990) whose treatment has been adopted by the BirdLife Taxonomic Working Group.

Forms superspecies with Black-headed Ibis (Threskiornis melanocephalus) and Australian Ibis (Threskiornis moluccus), the two sometimes regarded as subspecies of Black-headed Ibis (Threskiornis melanocephalus). Subspecies bernieri and abbotti very similar, perhaps better considered single form (bernieri has priority), that some regard as distinct species.

The following 3 subspecies are recognised:

aethiopicus (Latham, 1790) - Africa south of Sahara, south-eastern Iraq; formerly Egypt.
bernieri (Bonaparte, 1855) - Madagascar, Aldabra. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Madagascar Sacred Ibis (Threskiornis bernieri).
abbotti (Ridgway, 1893) - Aldabra I. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Madagascar Sacred Ibis (Threskiornis bernieri).

References
See References.

Files:

JPG files for African Sacred Ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus) - 10 files

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BirdLife International

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BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

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