Hagedaschibis

Bestimmung

The hadada is a large (about 76 cm (30 in) long), grey-to-partly brown species of ibis. Adults have a mean body mass of 1.2 kilograms (2.65 lbs.). Males and females are alike in plumage. It has a narrow, white, roughly horizontal stripe across its cheeks. This is sometimes called the "moustache" though it does not reach the mouth corners. The plumage over the wings has an iridescent purple sheen produced by optical microstructures within the feathers. The bird has blackish legs and a large grey-to-black bill but during the breeding season it has a red culmen on the basal half of the upper mandible. The upper surfaces of the toes are of a similar red during the onset of breeding. The wings are powerful and broad, enabling quick take-offs and easy manoeuvring through dense tree cover.<p>It has an extremely loud and distinctive "haa-haa-haa-de-dah" call—hence the onomatopoetic name. The call is often heard when the birds are flying or are startled, or when the birds communicate socially, for example early in the morning in residential suburbs. While roosting they produce a single loud "haaaa". When foraging, their contact call is a low growl similar to that made by a young puppy.

Taxonomie

Tantalus hagedash was the scientific name proposed by John Latham in 1790 who described it from a specimen that had been collected at "Houteniquas", due north of Mossel Bay, by Anders Sparrman who also recorded that it was onomatopoeically "called by the colonists hagedash, and also hadelde." It was later placed in a monotypic genus as Hagedashia hagedash but has since been placed in the genus Bostrychia. Three subspecies are recognized, the nominate form is found south of the Zambezi river and is paler and shorter billed than those of other subspecies. Populations to the north of the Zambezi river and towards the eastern parts of Africa including Uganda, Tanzania, Sudan and Ethiopia are larger and longer billed and designated as B. h. nilotica (Neumann, 1909) while to the west from Senegal to Congo and Kenya the darker brown and more brightly glossed populations are designated as B. h. brevirostris (Reichenow, 1907). A range of intermediate plumages are known and other subspecies such as erlangeri and guineensis have been proposed in the past.

Wissenschaftlicher Name

Bostrychia hagedash

Autorität

(Latham, 1790)

Ordnung

Pelecaniformes

Familie

Threskiornithidae

Gattung

Bostrychia

Verbreitung und Lebensraum

The hadada ibis occurs throughout Sub-Saharan Africa in open grasslands, savanna and wetlands, as well as urban parks, school fields, green corridors and large gardens. This bird occurs in Sudan, Burundi, Ethiopia, Senegal, Uganda, Tanzania, Gabon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Gambia, Kenya, Somalia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Botswana, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and South Africa.<p>The distribution range of the hadada has increased in southern Africa by nearly two and a half times in the 20th century following the introduction of trees in parts that were treeless. Irrigation projects may have also helped in their expansion as they appear to need moist and soft soils in which to probe for food.

Zugverhalten

Standvogel

Verhalten

Zugverhalten: Standvogel.

Schutzstatus

Bestandstrend: zunehmend.

Bestandstrend

zunehmend