The Hadada or Hadeda Ibis, Bostrychia hagedash, is a large (up to 76 cm long), dark brown ibis with a white "moustache", glossy greenish purple wings, a large black bill with a red stripe on the upper mandible, and blackish legs.
The Hadada Ibis is found throughout open grasslands, savanna and rainforests of Sudan,Ethiopia, Senegal, Uganda, Tanzania, Gabon,Zaire, Cameroon, Gambia, Kenya, Somalia and South Africa, and also in urban parks and large gardens. It feeds mainly on earthworms, using its long scimitar-like bill to probe soft soil. It also eats larger insects, such as the Parktown Prawn, as well as spiders and small lizards. These birds also favour snails and will feed in garden beds around residential homes.
It has a distinctively loud and recognisable haa-haa-haa-de-dah call that is often heard when the birds are flying or are startled, hence the name.
Widespread and common throughout its large range, the Hadada Ibis is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Hadeda Ibis eat mainly earthworms but also take insects, spiders and small reptiles.
Socialisation:
Hadeda Ibis move around in flocks numbering up to 20 birds or 100 out of breeding season.
Reproduction:
Hadeda Ibis breed from July to January. Incubation is done by both parents, lasting up to 28 days. Young are independent at about 40 days.
In Johannesburg, and on the beaches and savannas of southern Africa, it is the hadeda ibis, not the rooster, whose song, if it can be called that, announces morning. Har-har-har, he calls. Loud, raucous, guttural, the hadeda’s cacophonous call sounds like drunk men laughing. Har-har-ha-de-da.
Imagine a middle-aged man, grumpy and barrel-chested. He drinks too much, yells too often, laughs a lot but is quick to anger. Now put feathers on him and stick him in a tree. Give him avian vision, a long curved bill, and a Red Sox fan's hoarse yawp—and hello, hadeda.
Scientific Classification
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