Animalia Life

Bostrychia hagedash
SUBFAMILY
Threskiornithinae
TAXONOMY
Tantalus hagedash Latham, 1790, Cape of Good Hope. Three subspecies.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
English: Hadeda, Hadedah; French: Ibis hagedash; German: Hagedasch; Spanish: Ibis Hadada.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
25.5–30 in (65–76 cm); 2.4 lb (1,250 g). General tone of plumage is gray to olive-brown (depending on subspecies) with metallic green gloss. Culmen has a distinctive red base. No crest of feathers on the head.
DISTRIBUTION
Senegal and Gambia across the continent to Ethiopia and southern Somalia, and south to include most of South Africa.
HABITAT
Primarily in savanna, grassland, and along wooded rivers and streams. Also in gardens and cultivated land.
BEHAVIOR
Hadadas are not as social as most ibises. They gather in flocks for breeding, but nest alone, not in colonies. Most populations are sedentary except for the normal radiation of young pushing out from the breeding area and local moves to adapt to environmental conditions. Hadadas do not hesitate to colonize areas of human habitation within their range, and are also known to display aggression toward domestic dogs and cats.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Insects and other small invertebrates, along with small fish and reptiles.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Hadadas nest most often in trees, and occasionally in telephone poles. Pairs generally breed on their own in wooded ravines up to elevations of 6,600 feet (2,000 m), but the birds descend to agricultural areas for feeding. Both partners incubate and feed the young. Eggs hatch after 26 days, and the young stay in the nest for about 33 days.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not threatened. While other species have suffered from human activity, the hadada appears to have profited. The population is gradually rising.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
None known.

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