Australian White Ibis

AUSTRALIAN WHITE IBIS Threskiornis molucca

There were several groups of these Australian White Ibis sunning themselves along the edge of the Kilmore Hospital reservoir this morning.








There were many golfers around also, the golf course is built round the reservoir. Each time a golf cart went past, these birds would up, fly a loop of the reservoir and come back to roost. It surprised me, so many golfers, and each time the ibis would fly a lap. They were very wary.

 

 We don't see a lot of ibis around Kilmore generally. Later in autumn and and again in late spring we see them as they make their way north and south.

It was uncommon to see ibis about Melbourne before the 1970s. Now they are so common as to be regarded as pests. They are very urbanized  scavenging for food amongst the city rubbish bins and tips.



These birds today were quite clean looking with bright white feathers. I remember seeing a huge flock of ibis feeding at the rubbish tipping station at Albury a few years ago. Those birds were hardly white, they were a dirty grey, covered in mud and rubbish. They were very sad looking birds.  It was nice to see these looking so regal.