African Sacred Ibis
Threskiornis aethiopicus
LCLeast Concern
- Family
- Ibises and Spoonbills (Threskiornithidae)
- Order
- Pelecaniformes
Overview
The African sacred ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus) is a species of ibis, a wading bird of the family Threskiornithidae. It is native to much of Africa, as well as small parts of Iraq, Iran and Kuwait. It is especially known for its role in Ancient Egyptian religion, where it was linked to the god Thoth. The species is currently extirpated from Egypt.
Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Range and habitat
Sub-Saharan Africa and southeastern Iraq; formerly Egypt.
Range description: AviList Global Avian Checklist.
Countries
- Angola
- Azerbaijan
- Bahrain
- Benin
- Botswana
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Cameroon
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Côte d'Ivoire
- Djibouti
- DR Congo
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea
- Eswatini
- Ethiopia
- Gabon
- Gambia
- Georgia
- Germany
- Ghana
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Iran
- Iraq
- Italy
- Kenya
- Lesotho
- Liberia
- Malawi
- Mali
- Mauritania
- Mayotte
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Niger
- Nigeria
- Papua New Guinea
- Republic of the Congo
- Rwanda
- Senegal
- Sierra Leone
- Somalia
- South Africa
- South Sudan
- Spain
- Sudan
- Switzerland
- Tanzania
- Togo
- Uganda
- Yemen
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
Sources and further reading
- Wikipedia: African sacred ibis
- eBird: sightings, maps and photos
- xeno-canto: sound recordings
- Birds of the World: full species account (subscription)
- BirdLife DataZone: status and threats
- IUCN Red List (threat status)
- AviList global checklist (taxonomy)
Last updated September 29, 2026.
