Sacred Ibis

The African Sacred Ibis is a wading bird that belongs to the family Threskiornithidae which found near shores and marshes throughout Africa, including extensively in the South Luangwa valley.

A distinctive large wading bird it measures 75 centimetres (30 inches) in length and weighs 1.35 kilograms (3 pounds), with a wingspan of 112 – 124 centimetres (44 – 49 inches).

The plumage of the sacred ibis is mainly white in colour with black plumes on its lower back. Its small head and slender, curved neck are also black and practically bald. The sacred ibis has small black eyes and a long, slender, downward curved bill which is used to probe into sand and mud in shallow water or in grass and soil when foraging.

The legs of the sacred ibis are long and black and its feet are partially webbed like most wading birds. When in flight, the wing tips of the primary flight feathers are black which display a black border to the rear of the white wings.

In ancient Egypt he Ibis was sacred to and associated with Thoth the God of wisdom and writing. Thoth was often represented in the form of a man's body with the head of the Ibis and was the patron of the educated scribes who were responsible for the administration of the country. 

As a sacred animal the Ibis on death was embalmed and put inside the hollow body of a carved figure of the bird. Alternatively, the mummified remains were placed in pottery jars and deposited in vast underground galleries. Hundreds of thousands of such burials have been discovered at Sakkara, near Memphis the ancient capital of Egypt.