Sacred ibis
Threskiornis aethiopicus
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Photo credit: ©GBNNS
Threskiornis aethiopicus
Origin and Worldwide Distribution:
Potential or Known Impacts:
How could it get here?
Is it found in Northern Ireland?
Methods for Prevention:
You can help by reporting any sightings: @ the Centre for Environmental Data & Recording (CEDaR) - Or via the iRecord App.
Current Legislative Position (Listed on 03 August 2016)
Threskiornis aethiopicus
Common Names:
Habitat:
Description:
- Sacred ibis
Habitat:
- Meadows, marshes, reedbeds, coastal environments, rubbish dumps
Description:
- The sacred ibis is an easily recognisable large white bird with a bald, black head and neck, a thick curved bill and black legs.
Origin and Worldwide Distribution:
- A native to sub-Saharan Africa, it was first brought into France and Italy as a zoological specimen in the 19th century but has since escaped into the wild.
- It is currently present in Belgium, France, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal and Spain.
Potential or Known Impacts:
- Sacred ibises are highly mobile and adaptable.
- They feed in a variety of man-made habitats including rubbish tips, farmyards and ploughed fields but are mostly found in wetlands, often in large colonies.
- Through its feeding habits, it can outcompete and even predate on native water birds, thus causing severe biodiversity losses locally. Colonial-nesting species such as terns and seabirds are particularly vulnerable.
How could it get here?
- Through zoological or private collections.
Is it found in Northern Ireland?
- Not present in Northern Ireland.
Methods for Prevention:
- A sales ban, the phasing out from zoos, collections and any other ownership, a rapid eradication of any newly emerging populations and the management of established populations should prevent the species from becoming a wider problem in other areas and Member States.
- Report all sightings.
You can help by reporting any sightings: @ the Centre for Environmental Data & Recording (CEDaR) - Or via the iRecord App.
Current Legislative Position (Listed on 03 August 2016)
- This species must not intentionally be brought into the Union; kept; bred; transported to, from or within the United Kingdom, unless for the transportation to facilities in the context of eradication; placed on the market; used or exchanged; permitted to reproduce, grown or cultivated; or released into the environment.
NIEA-ID-Guide-Threskiornis-aethiopicus-Sacred-Ibis-V3-Oct24