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HADEDAS

Hadeda Ibises (Bostrychia hagedash) are one of the better-known birds of the Park, being widespread and fairly common. Their loud, harsh 'Haaaa!' or 'Ha-ha-ha-ha-han!' calls are heard frequently, when the birds are disturbed or when flying to their roosting sites in the evening. During the day they walk through the bush in groups up to 10 strong, hunting for small creatures such as insects, lizards and snails or even carrion and offal. They tend to remain in the general vicinity of water, but prefer not to feed on the very edges of rivers or dams. Their squat, elongate grey-brown bodies with shimmering purple-green on the wing-bases, and their long downward-curving beaks are familiar figures around many of the rest-camps. Three to four red dish-stained eggs are laid in a nest built as a platform of sticks in the branches of some tree not far from water. The male and female take turns in sitting on the eggs for just under a month, waiting patiently for their offspring to hatch.

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