Southern Bald Ibis

This species occurs in the high-altitude mesic grasslands characterized by high rainfall and rugged terrain found mostly on the Eastern Escarpment of South Africa (including the Free State, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga provinces), Lesotho, and Eswatini. Favoured foraging habitat includes short, dense natural grassland without the encroachment of trees and bushes, including heavily grazed, recently burnt, and mowed grass. Foraging can, however, also occur croplands, irrigated fields, and ploughed lands. Suitable habitat available for Southern Bald Ibis is estimated to have declined with 14.3% since 1990, with an additional 34.4% reduction in the range predicted by 2050 due to climate change (Colyn et al. 2020).

The global population size is estimated at around 6,592 ± 837 individuals (adults and juveniles), of which 3,296 ± 419 are breeding individuals, across approximately 245 colonies (Colyn et al. 2020). The regional and global population trend is in decline due to various pressures and threats placed on the species, with an estimated rate of decline of 14.1% in mature individuals over the between 1990 and 2015 (Henderson 2015). The major threats facing this species include habitat degradation, fragmentation, and loss through various forms of human development and associated impacts, including intensive crop farming, afforestation, invasive alien encroachment, decreasing intact grassland and wetland habitat, open cast mining, acid mine water contamination and human-settlement related developments. Another significant threat is the illegal harvesting of eggs and young chicks for consumption or for use in traditional medicine and/or ceremonial purposes.

This gregarious species roosts and breeds communally on steep cliff-lines, preferably above or close to water, with rare records of trees being utilised for roosting. The breeding season within South Africa is August to December, with the timing of breeding commencement often correlated to the quantity of burnt grassland available. Clutch sizes of 1-3 eggs are laid at the commencement of the breeding season, which are incubated for 27-31 days. Multiple chicks can hatch at a given nest site, although multiple successful fledgelings from one nest site are rare. Significant breeding failure can be recorded during very wet years when breeding colonies are flooded or washed out from adjacent waterfalls. Predation of nestlings is well recorded by species including Verreaux’s Eagle Aquila verreauxii, Jackal Buzzard Buteo rufofuscus, White-necked Raven Corvus albicollis, Pied Crow Corvus albus, Cape Eagle-Owl Bubo capensis, and other cliffline associated raptors.

Work by BirdLife South Africa

A national Species Action Plan (SAP) was developed by BirdLife South Africa in 2016 to guide conservation initiatives within South Africa and was reviewed in 2020. The SAP identifies national threats, conservation constraints, as well as an action matrix for conservation efforts. The most significant constraint is the large extent of their range, as well as the costs and logistics to have a single person cover the area for monitoring and research. The actions are categorised under 1) Research, 2) Monitoring, 3) Habitat Conservation, and 4) Education and Awareness. Each category had approximately four to five actions listed.

The full SAP can be downloaded here.

BirdLife South Africa has been initiating and involved with several objectives addressing various facets of Southern Bald Ibis ecology and status, including:

• Niche modelling involving habitat suitability analyses for the entire Southern Bald Ibis range, including the potential impact and threat of global climate change on the species (Colyn et al. 2020).
• Investigation into the home range, habitat use and foraging dynamics using cellular network tracking technology. Data generated through the trackers should yield insights into the threats contained in habitat-use and foraging (such as foraging in pesticide-rich environments, possible human interactions, etc.), but in the long-term it might also show the degree of migration, or possible migration, across international boundaries by giving home range size estimates and live movement data. This project is currently in progress.
• A largescale breeding monitoring programme mostly completed by the network of BirdLife South Africa supporters and citizen scientists. All data received are housed in a National Southern Bald Ibis database and will be analysed periodically to determine if any changes in breeding success or distribution are noted. Several groups within the core distribution of the species have already been identified and are conducting annual breeding assessments of the colonies within their regions. However, several areas are still unmonitored, and the project currently focuses on expanding the range of willing participants across the whole species distribution. This objective offers a chance to recruit local community members living near to unmonitored breeding cliffs who can be trained and upskilled to collect data for the project, as well as becoming champions for Southern Bald Ibis within their respective communities to drive awareness and conservation at a local level.

Ingula Nature Reserve

As part of BirdLife South Africa’s involvement in the Ingula Partnership with Eskom and the Middelpunt Wetland Trust, BirdLife South Africa has been actively involved in the conservation of the Southern Bald Ibis at the Ingula Nature Reserve since 2004. After realising that the breeding colony of Southern Bald Ibis on the then proposed Ingula Pumped Storage Scheme would be inundated after the Bedford Dam was constructed, a special programme was implemented to relocate them from their historic nesting ledges. An artificial nesting ledge was constructed in 2010 in the hope of providing them with an alternative breeding site following the loss of the historical breeding site. Since relocation to the new nest site in 2016, a minimum of four successful fledgelings per breeding season have consistently been recorded at the site, with up to 30 adults using it for roosting throughout the year. Monitoring of this site continues annually.

The Ingula Fact Sheet, giving more information on the project, can be downloaded here.

Download the Species Action Plan for the Southern Bald Ibis below:

Download the burning and grazing guidelines below:

Found a breeding colony?

BirdLife South Africa relies on citizen scientists to provide us with information on the locations of breeding Southern Bald Ibis around the country. If you know of a colony and would be interested in assisting with nest monitoring work please email Carina Pienaar at carina.coetzer@birdlife.org.za