Flora & Fauna of Spain
Northern Bald Ibis
The northern bald ibis, also known as hermit ibis or Waldrapp, appears on the critically endangered species list. The reason for the decline in population of this bird is unclear but it is thought that hunters, loss of foraging habitat and pesticide poisoning have all been contributing factors.
This Ibis, which grows to around 80cms in height, has a distinctive featherless red face, long curved red bill and a wispy feather ruff on the back of the head. The remaining plumage is glossy black with a bronze-green and violet sheen. It has a long wingspan at about 135cm. The average age in the wild is around 15 years but this reaches over 20 when the birds are kept in captivity.
There is little difference in the plumage but the male is usually larger and has a longer bill than the female.
Their preferred habitat is barren, semi-desert or rocky areas, sometimes near running water, although unlike other species of Ibis it does not wade.Their favourite diet includes lizards, insects and other small animals.
These birds live and breed in colonies on cliff ledges. Breeding starts at about 3 years old and once the birds have paired they remain together for life. Eggs are usually layed in batches of 2-3 in a nest loosely constructed of twigs and lined with grass. The chicks have a brown downy plumage turning black as it reaches adolescence. The youngsters have a darker bald face, grey legs and pale bill. These areas gradually become red as the bird matures.
The genus name, Geronticus, is derived from the Ancient Greek word meaning ‘old man’, referring to the bald head of the aged. This ibis was revered as a holy bird and a symbol of brilliance and splendour in Ancient Egypt.
The Northern Bald Ibis was once widespread across the Middle East, northern Africa, and southern Europe; it bred along the Danube and RhoneRivers, and in the mountains of Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. It used castle battlements as well as cliff ledges for nesting before vanishing from Europe at least three centuries ago.
It is also extinct over most of its former range, and now almost the entirety of the wild breeding population of just over 500 birds is in Morocco, where there are three documented colonies, and near the mouth of the Oued Tamri (north of Agadir), where there is a single colony containing almost half the Moroccan breeding population.
Following successful breeding programmes in captivity there are now attempts to release the birds back into the wild for natural breeding to take place.
‘Proyecto Eremita’ is the name of the Spanish reintroduction project, involving the release of nearly 30 birds in the Ministry of Defence training ground in La Janda district, Barbate (Cádiz Province). It had its first success in 2008, when a pair laid two eggs.
This is probably the first attempt to breed in the wild in Spain for 500 years; the last definite reference to the Northern Bald Ibis breeding in Spain is from a 15th-century falconry book. This effort has been undertaken by the Andalucian government’s Environmental Ministry, the Spanish Ministry of Defence, and the Jerez Zoo and Botanical Gardens, with the assistance of the Doñana National Park and volunteers from the Cádiz Natural History Society.Previously, two birds left the area in 2005 and 14 in 2006, but nothing is known of their whereabouts other than that a ringed bird from Spain was seen in the Middle Atlas, Morocco in 2005.
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