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Hadeda Ibis (Bostrychia hagebash)



Other names:
Afrikaans: Hadeda
German: Hagedasch-Ibis
French: Ibis hagedash
Portuguese: Singanga
Dutch: Hadada-ibis

This paragraph by Anthony Schneider taken from this site put a smile to my face and a laugh in my belly as I realised that he was actually talking about W@H and WTM

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.

This bird has spread westwards and is now found daily along the Elsieskraal river reserve in Pinelands, Cape Town.

That is cute, restio
They like to sit on my wall and even eat from the dog's bowl in the kitchen

I have a question:

Is it possible that a hadeda can take fish from a pond?

I have one that visits my pond every day - it bathes, drink water and eats any leftover fish pellets. Lots of people have told me that it will catch my fish but I find that hard to believe!?

From what I've read they go for insects and worms, so it looks like your fish may be safe. But this is wildlife and animals and birds don't read the books.

According to answers.com they feed on
"Insects and other small invertebrates, along with small fish and reptiles."

Thanx Saraf and Matthys for responding.
What I would really like to know is if someone actually have seen a Hadeda catching fish.
Mine had babies - there is about 60+ of them - so I wouldn't even notice if a few of them disappear. It is just difficult for me to imagine that a Hadeda can be quick enough to grab one.

In my old house in Mooinooi (North west province) my stoep overlooked the neighbours overgrown green fishpond that only had noisy frogs and tadpoles in it. But are often saw Hadedas around the edge but never catching anything. there was a hammerkop that for a while had supper there every night.

I have two Hadeda (look like a couple) who have become a daily addition to my garden as they have taken to eating my dogs' biscuits. Should I be concerned as this is quite a deviation from their "normal" dietery intake.

No problem for them, they eat lizards, snails, insects etc. your feeding bill might see a sharp increase though

My vet even recommended little cat pellets to supplement the diet of some of my garden rescues.

A friend has a couple of hadedas that return every year to raise their young in a big tree on their property.

This year though, something must have upset the hen on her nest and none of the eggs hatched. My friend thought that this year would simply mean an "unproductive" year, but alas, in a few days she was back on the nest again and has not moved for 4 days now.

Could anybody tell me if they lay another batch of eggs in the same year, if the first batch failed to hatch? None of my books make mention of this tendency in Hadedas, although they do with some other birds.

I would appreciate some feedback, please!

Many Thanks!

lee lewis

My wife and I had the pleasure of being human god-parents to a pair of breeding Hadeda Ibises recently. In early November they started building a nest in a tree about 30 metres from our back stoep, about 8 metres up. They were very obliging in selecting a perch amongst thick branches and dense leaves but with a perfect opening for us to see their every move. Or perhaps it was chosen in order for them to see that WE kept our distance. We followed the complete building process, spending more time on the verandah than in the house, with us ogling the two birds and them staring right back at us.
Eventually after about 27 days three babies emerged, originally we only saw two, but later realised that there were in fact three. During the nestling period the feeding, preening, scrubbing and other bird household chores were absolutely amazing to watch, everything done in complete silence, in fact, from the very first day they never made their loud hadeda cries near the nest, the parents only doing so after flying away some distance.
Then early one morning we were awakened by softish cries and much activity, one cry especially was short and hoarse, a very juvenile sound, the whole family was on the soft after-the-rain ground, foraging and learning how to find food. Sadly we realised the time of departure had arrived, and sure enough, a few days later the family took to the air with all the pent-up energy and hadeda sounds they could make, they circled once and were gone.
We regularly see and hear Hadedas flying over the house and we like to think that it is our three babies saying hello to us.
Sneeugans

What a great experience Sneeugans! We have some Orange-river White-eyes breeding in a Nandina next to our stoep at the moment and it is such a pleasure watching them!

And welcome to the forums hope you enjoy it here!!!

Welcome Sneeugans, how lucky you are to have been able to watch the entire process. Perhaps they'll be back next year since you were obviously exemplary Godparents!