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Ian McMillan | all galleries >> Galleries >> European Vacation > Shore birds..
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05-OCT-2007

Shore birds..

At home, we're used to seeing Great Blue Herons fishing at low tide. It was interesting to see the Sacred Ibis here in Gavres. Here's what Wikipedia says about them:


The Sacred Ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus) is a species of wading bird of the ibis family, Threskiornithidae, which breeds in sub-Saharan Africa, SE Iraq and formerly in Egypt, where it was venerated and often mummified as a symbol of the god Thoth. It has also been introduced into France, Italy, Spain United States (S.Florida) and Australia.


The introduced and rapidly growing populations in southern Europe are seen as a potential problem, since these large predators can devastate breeding colonies of species such as terns. They also compete successfully for nest sites with Cattle and Little Egrets. The adaptable Ibises supplement their diet by feeding at rubbish tips, which helps them to survive the winter in these temperate regions.


They may be scavengers, but they're certainly pretty!

Pentax *ist DS
1/80s f/8.0 at 250.0mm iso200 full exif

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