The Wattled Ibis is a species of bird

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...

 in 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...

 family. It is endemic to the Ethiopian highlands

Ethiopian Highlands

The Ethiopian Highlands are a rugged mass of mountains in Ethiopia, Eritrea , and northern Somalia in the Horn of Africa...

 and is found only in Ethiopia

Ethiopia

Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...

 and Eritrea

Eritrea

Eritrea , officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea derives it's name from the Greek word Erethria, meaning 'red land'. The capital is Asmara. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast...

.

Description

A large, dark ibis with white shoulder patches. Also eye is white. Thin wattle is hanging from the broad bill

Beak

The beak, bill or rostrum is an external anatomical structure of birds which is used for eating and for grooming, manipulating objects, killing prey, fighting, probing for food, courtship and feeding young...

 base. These two features, and no white line on cheek, distinguish this ibis from the close relative Hadada Ibis

Hadada Ibis

The Hadada or Hadeda Ibis, Bostrychia hagedash, is an ibis found in Sub-Saharan Africa.-Appearance:The Hadeda is a large , 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.-Call:It has a...

 (Bostrychia hagedash). The average length is 60 cm.

Range and habitat

May occur all over Ethiopian highlands at altitude range of 1500 m to highest moorlands of 4100 m. It has also been recorded from the coast of Eritrea. It prefers meadow

Meadow

A meadow is a field vegetated primarily by grass and other non-woody plants . The term is from Old English mædwe. In agriculture a meadow is grassland which is not grazed by domestic livestock but rather allowed to grow unchecked in order to make hay...

s and highland river courses. It is often found in rocky places and cliffs (where it roosts and breeds), but also in open country, cultivated land, city parks and olive tree (Olea africana) and juniper (Juniperus procera

Juniperus procera

Juniperus procera, commonly known in English as African Juniper or East African Juniper, is a coniferous tree native to the mountains of eastern Africa from eastern Sudan south to Zimbabwe, and the southwest of the Arabian Peninsula...

) mixed forests. It has also become well adapted to anthropic landscapes and conditions; during the rainy season it can be seen in the hotel lawns of downtown Addis Ababa

Addis Ababa

Addis Ababa is the capital city of Ethiopia...

. The wattled ibis is common to abundant.

General habits

Wattled Ibis is a gregarious species, often flocking in groups of 30 to 100, but it can be seen feeding alone or as pairs, as well. It forages in open grasslands, marshes, open alpine moorlands, croplands and forest glades. When feeding it walks about methodologically, probing the ground regularly. It feeds with worms, insect larvae, and small invertebrates; occasionally frogs, snakes and mice. Sometimes it is seen with herds of domestic animals, searchind dung for beetles. It roosts singly or in pairs in trees, in groups on rock cliffs, often at sites of breeding colonies. Wattled Ibis is predominantly sedentary, undertaking only local, altitudinal movements.

Breeding habits

Wattled Ibis usually nests in small to large colonies on rocky cliffs, over bushes hanging in the walls, but it has been reported to nest also singly on top of trees or ledges of buildings. Few colonies are known above 3000 meters, and those in trees at lower elevations (1800 - 2000 m) in Lake Awasa

Lake Awasa

Lake Awasa is an endorheic basin in Ethiopia, located in the Rift Valley south of Addis Ababa. According to the Statistical Abstract of Ethiopia for 1967/68, the lake is 16 km long and 9 km wide, with a surface area of 129 square kilometers...

. In the Bale Mountains

Bale Mountains

The Bale Mountains are a range of mountains in the Oromia Region of southeast Ethiopia, south of the Awash River. They include Tullu Demtu, the second-highest mountain in Ethiopia , and Mount Batu . The Weyib River, a tributary of the Jubba River, rises in these mountains east of Goba...

there are nesting colonies of 500 birds, or more. Nest is a platform of branches and sticks, lined with grass and strips of bark; sometimes at high and cold altitudes located to east for maximum exposure to morning sun. Wattled Ibis breeds along a broad period: from March to July; occasionally in December, during the dry season. It lays 2-3 rough shelled eggs which are dirty white in color.

Threats

No reduction in numbers nor any obvious threat have been reported. Therefore, it is not considered to be of conservation concern, since the population is rather large.