Southern Bald Ibis
Encyclopedia
The Southern Bald Ibis (Geronticus calvus) is a large bird
found in open grassland or semi-desert in the mountains of southern Africa
.
This large, glossy, blue-black ibis
has an unfeathered red face and head, and a long, decurved red bill. It breeds colonially
on and amongst rocks and on cliffs, laying 2-3 eggs which are incubated for 21 days before hatching. It feeds on insect
s, small reptiles, rodents and small birds.
The ibises are gregarious long-legged wading birds with long down-curved bills; they form one subfamily of the Threskiornithidae
, the other subfamily being the spoonbill
s. The two Geronticus species differ from other ibises in that they have unfeathered faces and heads, breed on cliffs rather than in trees, and prefer arid habitats to the wetlands used by their relatives.
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
found in open grassland or semi-desert in the mountains of southern Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
.
This large, glossy, blue-black ibis
Ibis
The ibises are a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae....
has an unfeathered red face and head, and a long, decurved red bill. It breeds colonially
Bird colony
A bird colony is a large congregation of individuals of one or more species of bird that nest or roost in close proximity at a particular location. Many kinds of birds are known to congregate in groups of varying size; a congregation of nesting birds is called a breeding colony...
on and amongst rocks and on cliffs, laying 2-3 eggs which are incubated for 21 days before hatching. It feeds on insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s, small reptiles, rodents and small birds.
The ibises are gregarious long-legged wading birds with long down-curved bills; they form one subfamily of the Threskiornithidae
Threskiornithidae
The family Threskiornithidae includes 34 species of large terrestrial and wading birds, falling into two subfamilies, the ibises and the spoonbills. It was formerly known as Plataleidae. The spoonbills and ibises were once thought to be related to other groups of long-legged wading birds in the...
, the other subfamily being the spoonbill
Spoonbill
Spoonbills are a group of large, long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae, which also includes the Ibises.All have large, flat, spatulate bills and feed by wading through shallow water, sweeping the partly opened bill from side to side...
s. The two Geronticus species differ from other ibises in that they have unfeathered faces and heads, breed on cliffs rather than in trees, and prefer arid habitats to the wetlands used by their relatives.