Threskiornis aethiopicus
Silhouette: Steven Traver · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The African sacred ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus) is a species of ibis, a wading bird of the family Threskiornithidae. It is native to much of Africa, as well as small parts of Iraq, Iran and Kuwait. It is especially known for its role in Ancient Egyptian religion, where it was linked to the god Thoth. The species is currently extirpated from Egypt.
It is very closely related to the black-headed ibis and the Australian white ibis, with which it forms a superspecies complex, so much so that the three species are considered conspecific by some ornithologists. In mixed flocks these ibises often hybridise. The Australian white ibis is often called the sacred ibis colloquially.
Although known to the ancient civilisations of Greece, Rome and especially Africa, ibises were unfamiliar to western Europeans from the fall of Rome until the 19th century, and mentions of this bird in the ancient works of these civilisations were supposed to describe some type of curlew or other bird, and were thus translated as such. In 1758, Linnaeus was convinced that the ancient authors were describing a cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis), which he thus described as Ardea ibis. Following the work of... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cape Town | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Dar es-Salaam | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 3 | Mombasa | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 4 | Kigali | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 5 | Nairobi | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 6 | Pretoria | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 7 | Addis Ababa | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | |
| 8 | Johannesburg | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 9 | Harare | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 10 | Serrekunda | 🇬🇲 Gambia |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ZooParc de Beauval | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 2 | Aquarium of Genoa | 🇮🇹 Italy | |
| 3 | Barcelona Zoo | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 4 | Parc Phœnix | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 5 | Réserve africaine de Sigean | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 6 | Parc des oiseaux | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 7 | Zoo de Maubeuge | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 8 | Vinpearl Safari | 🇻🇳 Vietnam | |
| 9 | San Diego Zoo Safari Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Al Ain Zoo | 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates | |
| 11 | Safaripark Beekse Bergen | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 12 | Toronto Zoo | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 13 | Safari West | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 14 | Columbus Zoo and Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 15 | Badoca Safari Park | 🇵🇹 Portugal | |
| 16 | Ramat Gan Safari | 🇮🇱 Israel | |
| 17 | Planète Sauvage | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 18 | Curitiba Zoo | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 19 | Shenzhen Safari Park | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 20 | Johannesburg Zoo | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 21 | Oakland Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 22 | National Zoological Garden of South Africa | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 23 | Cape May County Park & Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 24 | Silesian Zoological Garden | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 25 | Selwo Aventura | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 26 | Leofoo Village Theme Park | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | |
| 27 | Granby Zoo | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 28 | Kyiv Zoo | 🇺🇦 Ukraine | |
| 29 | Saint Louis Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 30 | Fonghuanggu Bird and Ecology Park | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | |
| 31 | Caldwell Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 32 | Dierenpark Hoenderdaell | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 33 | Terra Natura Benidorm | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 34 | Woodland Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 35 | Louisiana Purchase Gardens and Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 36 | San Francisco Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 37 | Temaikén | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 38 | Lisbon Zoo | 🇵🇹 Portugal | |
| 39 | Metro Richmond Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 40 | Montgomery Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 41 | Neo Park Okinawa | 🇯🇵 Japan | |
| 42 | Zoo Aquarium de Madrid | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 43 | Monte Selvagem | 🇵🇹 Portugal | |
| 44 | GaiaZOO | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 45 | Cameron Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 46 | Emirates Park Zoo | 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates | |
| 47 | Honolulu Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 48 | Łódź Zoo | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 49 | Zoomarine | 🇵🇹 Portugal | |
| 50 | London Zoo | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an African Sacred Ibis sighting in Luanda on a given day, based on 10 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 28th most-seen of the 45 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May, July and October
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report an African Sacred Ibis in Luanda on a given day, against under 5% in January, April, August–September and November, the lowest months. Those are among Luanda's driest months, with about 15 mm of rain a month against 80 mm in April. February–March, June and December have too few records to rate.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most African Sacred Ibis sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
16th of 24
Of the 24 cities where we can rate African Sacred Ibis sightings, Luanda ranks 16th at about 10%. The best odds are in Cape Town (South Africa, about 50%), Dar es-Salaam (Tanzania, about 50%) and Mombasa (Kenya, about 50%).
Same order: Pelecaniformes
The closest relatives of the African Sacred Ibis that you can see in Luanda (order Pelecaniformes, Pelicans, Herons, Ibises, and Allies) are Cattle Egret (about 40%), Little Egret (about 30%) and Grey Heron (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the African Sacred Ibis is recorded against all the birds logged in Luanda (10 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
