This Odd Bird, the Hadeda Ibis, Is Taking Over South Africa

[Steve Hayes]

This Odd Bird, the Hadeda Ibis, Is Taking Over South Africa
By Christopher Torchia
Published Oct 9 2013 01:10 PM EDT
Associated Press

JOHANNESBURG -- Pest, charming oddity or just background noise, the
Hadeda ibis is a feathered phenomenon in suburban South Africa.

Sometimes it swipes dog food meant for pets, splatters parked cars and
driveways with droppings and yanks residents from sleep with jarring
squawks at first light.

It is not an endangered species and its feathers are a drab gray or
brown, so it's not on a bird lover bucket list. But the bird now has a
small niche in popular culture. Some lodges and restaurants carry its
name, a website offers a ringtone download of its cry and a pair of
South African musicians produced a song called: "Harry the hungry
Hadeda."

The name hadeda is said to be onomatopoeic, an imitation of its
raucous cry. Some call it a "flying vuvuzela," recalling the din of
the plastic horn used by stadium fans during the World Cup soccer
tournament in South Africa in 2010. Found in sub-Saharan Africa, the
Hadeda ibis is a somewhat unruly cousin of the African Sacred Ibis,
which was revered in ancient Egypt.

The bird's regional population increased in the last century, but the
numbers really took off in the past couple of decades with more
irrigation in gardens, golf courses and other green spaces in
Johannesburg, Cape Town and some other cities. Many tall trees, ideal
for nesting, also reached full height after being planted long ago.

"They have colonized cities more and more," said Res Altwegg, a Swiss
citizen and an associate professor of statistics at the University of
Cape Town who has used his mountain-climbing experience to reach
numerous nests as part of a hadeda research project. "They realize
that they can take advantage of urban habitats."

Fortunately, this is not a scenario from "The Birds," the Alfred
Hitchcock movie in which birds attack humans. The hadeda prefers to
probe and pluck worms and crickets from soft earth with its
scythe-like beak. Its vaguely prehistoric features are reminiscent of
the illustrations of Edward Gorey, author of "The Osbick Bird" and
other quirky tales.

Some ornithologists credit the hadeda's dietary preferences with
curbing the population of the "Parktown Prawn," a king cricket named
after a Johannesburg suburb that can creep or leap into homes at
night, horrifying residents. The hadeda, in turn, has few natural
predators in cities, facing instead the lesser peril of flying into
windows or getting hit by a car, said Ernst Retief, a regional
conservation manager for BirdLife South Africa, a conservation group.

"We've created an ideal habitat for them," Retief said.

The animal demography unit of the University of Cape Town compiled a
color-coded map of South Africa that shows hadeda distribution, based
on birdwatcher data since 2007, has become more common.

In Johannesburg, the bird feasts in lush lawns and breeds in towering
trees that replaced indigenous grasslands in a city described as a
man-made forest. This is only one slice of a city and society marred
by economic inequality. Two decades after the end of white minority
rule, many areas previously designated for blacks only remain poor,
crowded and lacking in adequate services, unlike tree-lined suburbs
where sprinklers keep grass fresh, even during dry spells.

A hadeda nickname is "la-di-da," a poke at what some view as the
hoity-toity airs of suburbanites who share their green spaces with the
bird.

Affluent residents in South Africa tend to live in fenced areas, some
of which are sprawling "eco-estates" that draw bird and other species
to the secure environments within city limits, according to Nicci
Wright, senior animal manager at FreeMe, a rehabilitation center for
indigenous wildlife in Johannesburg.

FreeMe gets its share of hadedas in distress, some of which suffer
during winter months when the ground is hard and food is scarce.

The Hadeda ibis can't measure up to the stately Blue Crane, the
national bird of South Africa, or the Secretary bird, whose
raised-wing image adorns the country's coat of arms. But it inspires
humor. One blogger posted a tongue-in-cheek recipe for a hadeda meal
that ends: "Continue with the (cooking) process until the cast iron
pot becomes tender, then throw away the hadeda and eat the pot."

Urban legend says a hadeda makes its grating call because it is
terrified of flying.

Altwegg, the associate professor, said he once found a hadeda with a
broken wing in his garden. It stayed there in its twilight years,
eating dog food and fending off smaller birds that tried to pilfer
from its bowl. The injured hadeda never flew again.

"It almost never made any sound," Altwegg said.

http://t.co/pTHWBKzO0k

[Unknown]

On Wed, 23 Sep 2015 06:10:52 +0200, Steve Hayes wrote:

OK thanks, that makes more sense than my theory of global-warming.
Mind you, the insect population has changed since the 50's; and
that's not from 'tall trees'.

Post by Steve Hayes
Altwegg, the associate professor, said he once found a hadeda with a
broken wing in his garden. It stayed there in its twilight years, eating
dog food and fending off smaller birds that tried to pilfer from its
bowl. The injured hadeda never flew again.
"It almost never made any sound," Altwegg said.

An old chappie in Parkhurst told of one that eventually recovered and
flew away.