Flight of the Sacred Ibisby
kellymkComment by kellymk: I couldn't tell offhand, so I went to look it up and found some interesting facts about the Sacred Ibis.
Length: Between 70 and 90 cm
Wingspan: Between 112 and 124cm
Indigenous to Sub-Saharan Africa, but not as widespread in South Africa as I thought - mostly the Eastern half and the Cape. Also found in Iraq (endangered here) and in Madagascar (island off the East Coast of Africa). Previously recorded in Egypt, but now extinct in that area. But here's the interesting bit - an exerpt from a website I found :
(//www.oaklandzoo.org/animals/birds/sacred-ibis/)
'(The Sacred Ibis) was venerated in ancient times. The ancient Egyptians believed that their god Thoth sometimes came to earth in the form of a Sacred Ibis. Thoth, a scribe of the gods, was the inventor of writing and measurer of time who symbolized wisdom and knowledge. It is depicted in many murals and mummified specimens are common in burial places; over 1.5 million birds were found in one group of tombs. Herodotus, the Greek historian and traveler writing in the fifth century BC., noted that the secular killing of this ibis, whether intentional or not, was punishable by death.The ancient Egyptians knew that this ibis kept bilharzia (a debilitating disease) in check , but not how. We now know that a snail,a main food of the ibis, is the host of the bilharzia parasite. Unfortunately, because of extensive swamp drainage and land reclamation over the years, the bird is now extinct in its ancient home and bilharzia is rampant.'
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