A gorgeous Ibis, from Gobi, who says: These enormous clumsy birds are like pigeons in my city – they hang around parks and steal food from people! Pigeons and Doves I have, but not Ibises! I’m jealous. This is the sister species of the Sacred Ibis. Absolutely click for full size.
© Gobi, all rights reserved.
A respectable beak.
I would certainly give up my hotdog just to fend off a gang of those. I’ll stand up to seagulls, but this seems a bit of a level-up.
I have never found them to be aggressive -- just very cheeky. If you are eating outside they can be game enough to jump up on the table and stare at you.
One of our local universities has kookaburras that swoop down and steal whole steaks off plates.
Kookaburras is another
birddinosaur that strikes fear into my heart -- them, and magpies/mockingbirds/žagatas (or whatever species of black-and-white territorially swooping dinosaur might reside in any part of the world).Although come to think of it, I think it was a benign pair of redwing blackbirds that nested one year just above the neighbours’ back door… right on the lintel, noticed too late. o.O Gauntlets were run.