Colours of Wildlife: Wattled Ibis
Created | Updated Jan 19, 2014
Wattled Ibis
Willem is a wildlife artist based in South Africa. He says "My aim is simply to express the beauty and wonder that is in Nature, and to heighten people's appreciation of plants, animals and the wilderness. Not everything I paint is African! Though I've never been there, I'm also fascinated by Asia and I've done paintings of Asian rhinos and birds as well. I may in future do some of European, Australian and American species too. I'm fascinated by wild things from all over the world! I mainly paint in watercolours. . . but actually many media including 'digital' paintings with the computer!"
This is another bird that doesn't occur in South Africa, but it is African. It is a Wattled Ibis, Bostrychia carunculata. This species occurs in the rugged highlands of Ethiopia. It is confined to that country and the neighbouring country of Eritrea, but the total region over which it occurs is quite large.
The wattled ibis is a close relative of an ibis that does occur over here, the Hadeda Ibis. Like the hadeda, the wattled ibis is quite large, about 80 cm/32" in overall length. Also like the hadeda it has a loud, honking 'waah-waah' call, but it can be distinguished from it by the long, thin wattle – which isn't always clearly visible, though – and by the white patch on the shoulder of its wing, and its long, floppy crest feathers.
The Ibises
Ibises are relatives of herons and, recent studies suggest, pelicans. They're particularly closely related to spoonbills, which I hope to feature soon as well. They are not waterbirds in particular, although many species do occur and feed in wetland regions. As a group, they are easy to recognize by their long, decurved bills. Other than that, they are quite diverse; they range in size from the Dwarf Olive Ibis, about 45 cm/18" in length, to the endangered Giant Ibis, which reaches 106 cm/42". Ibises have variously coloured plumage, from white to black, from bright red to dull green and brown. Many have glossy feathers. Many have brightly-coloured, naked facial skin; many have naked heads; many have feather crests. Ibises are quite well-represented in Africa, with eight of the world's thirty species being found here.
Many ibises are rare and not well known. The wattled ibis is not particularly rare, but because of being confined to Ethiopia and Eritrea, is not very well known to most people, even bird enthusiasts. Although it is associated with the highlands, it is not always found in mountainous terrain. It roosts and breeds on the cliffs for safety, but feed in mountain meadows, marshes, open glades in forests, cultivated lands, and will also enter city gardens, parks and plantations. This ibis, like many others, is good at soaring on the air currents over the mountains. This way they can easily fly from their roosts to their feeding areas. They group themselves in flocks of up to 100 individuals while feeding, finding safety in numbers. They probe the soil, tufts of grass, mud and marsh water with their long bills for invertebrates, also catching small animals like frogs, lizards and snakes, and occasional small rodents. Like other ibises they feed by day, spending the nights roosting in their cliff colonies.
Nests on the Cliffs
In its cliff-breeding habits this ibis resembled the Southern Bald Ibis which is found here in South Africa, and its relative the highly endangered Northern Bald Ibis of North Africa, Europe and Asia. But wattled ibises have also learned to use tall human buildings and other structures for nesting. Occasionally they will nest in trees well away from mountains and cliffs. But when nesting in the high mountains, even though they breed during the spring and summer, they will encounter cold temperatures in the nights. For this reason they usually make their nests on the eastern faces of the cliffs, where the rising sun in the morning will shine on them and rapidly warm them up again after the cold nights. These ibises nest in colonies sometimes numbering 500 or more birds. They build their stick-platform nests either on cliff ledges, or on dense shrubs or bushes growing on the cliffs. The nests are lined with grass and chips of bark.
In this nest the wattled ibis mom lays two to three eggs. Both parents probably brood the eggs and then feed the hatchlings. Ibis chicks are rather scruffy-looking after hatching, and have straight bills, which later lengthen and start curving downward.
What about the Wattle, Then?
We still don't really know what the wattle is for! It is generally not very big or conspicuous … in my painting it's about as big as it gets. The wattle just waggles and jiggles around as the ibis struts and pokes the soil with its bill. I'm not sure if it is used in any way in displays … it might be! But I've not been able to get any info about it. It is the only living ibis that has a wattle.
A Highland Haven for Unique Species
The Ethiopian Highlands is a region with links to Europe and Asia, to which it was connected until rifting caused the Red Sea to intrude. Today, there are a great many species that only occur in them. Other birds unique to these highlands are the Thick-billed Raven, Ruspoli's Turaco, Blue-winged Goose, Rouget's Rail and Streseman's Bush Crow. Mammals that are only found here include the Mountain Nyala, Gelada Baboon, Ethiopian Wolf and Walia Ibex. Although the mountains are extensive, there is much detrimental human encroachment and alteration of habitats, and so many of these unique species are endangered. So far the wattled ibis, though, has proven adaptable and able to exploit human-altered habitats, and is still relatively common.
