sacred ibis in Green Mubazzara

[drrezakhan]

Is Sacred Ibis a common bird in Green Mubazzara?
I know in the late 1980s and early 1990s some ibis used to swith between the sewage treatment plant and Ain Al Faidah that had originally escaped from Al Ain Zoo.
Is this bird from that old stock or is it one that is now free flying in Al Ain Zoo and made it to the Mubazzara?

6 Menetries's Warbler
2 Turkmenestan Shrike
8 Desert lark
3 Hume's Wheatear
2 Indian Roller
4 RV Bulbul
6 WE Bulbul
2 Pale Cragmartin
2 Hoopoe
6 Common Myna
2 Grey Francolin
2 Spotted Flycatcher
-Another unknown warbler, leaf or other
2 LG Bee-eater

[Sandman]

Yes, common in the area, as well as Ain al-Fayda and Wadi Al Ain

[daveclark]

Hi Reza - as Tommy says the sacred ibis can be found almost in any park in Al Ain these days - I have seen a flock of about 75 flying together and last month there were two colonys of breeding birds sitting on top but outside of the avairy at the zoo - there were many hungry chicks in both colonys - they can usually be seen in the parks early morning picking up scraps left by picnicers the night before -- there have also been about 15-18 glossy ibis for the last 6 months or longer at the sewage treatment plant and zakher pools.

the hoopoe chicks are doing well they want to fly - tomorrow I will see if the zoo here will take them over from me.

dave

[Huw]

Also increasingly at grassed roundabouts and central reservations in the north of the city. Although their favorite place seems to be Duck Lake, Ain Al Fayda. Numbers must be stable, perhaps increasing.

They’re still category E on the UAE checklist though (released/escaped birds, with populations not considered self-sustaining). I think they could be self-sustaining. I suppose it depends on whether they actually get fed by the zoo. Dave, who was at the zoo recently and saw adults and chicks, says they’re not being fed there. Maybe they should be Category C (introduced and established resident breeding species)?

Cheers
Huw