Hadada Ibis / Bostrychia hagedash

This photo was taken on 6 October 2015 at the Calgary Zoo. I always find it difficult to get decent photos in this building - it's so hot and humid, with poor light and a camera lens that steams up. I'm not sure, but I think this was the first time I had seen this kind of Ibis at the Zoo.

“Hadada ibises have a wide range across sub-Saharan Africa, south to South Africa. They are Africa's most common and least aquatic ibis. Hadadas live in open grasslands, savannahs and rain forests, especially along wooded streams, marshes and river courses. They are also common around small towns and villages, in pastures and cultivated land and in timbered areas and are occasionally seen in the glades of deep forests. They are carnivores.

In the early 1900s, Hadada Ibis underwent a marked decline in South Africa due to hunting during a period of colonial expansion. Since 1910, it has been expanding toward western Africa, probably as a result of reduced human persecution following legal protection; proliferation of imported tree species, providing new sites for resting and nesting in formerly treeless areas; construction of reservoirs; increase in irrigated land; and arrival of cattle in zones recently colonized by mans, as cow dung favors expansion of coprophagous insects, frequent prey of the species.

The bird's name comes from its raucous call of "ha-ha-a-a-a-a," usually uttered on the wing. Hadadas typically call around dusk or sunrise, when returning to the roost or leaving it. One bird starts, followed by others. In large roosts, several groups may call simultaneously.” From the Oregon Zoo.

www.oregonzoo.org/discover/animals/hadada-ibis
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadada_ibis