Sacred Ibis ringing

Each trip to the peninsula included a check-up on the sacred ibis chicks. It has been so enjoyable watching them grow up from downy chicks to long-legged juveniles. Once they were moving off the nests we decided it was high time to ring them. Shirley and I built a shade-cloth trap of sorts, which we could set up in the field as a boma and herd the flightless juveniles into. Good intentions but it didn’t quite work out! We were too late with the ringing, many of the chicks could already fly and our herding skills weren’t up to par. That said we still managed to catch and ring 9 individuals. They really are precious little birds, with incredibly long toes! Many of the adults are on eggs or have young chicks, so we may have an opportunity to try and ring those little ones when they are old enough!

The colony with the boma in the background. Photograph by Mark Brown.

The colour rings we used.

Shirley and a chick.

Releasing the first ringed chick.

They are such cute birds! Photograph by Mark Brown.