Our hero lost his “sacred” status when his Australian-ness was recognised!
As is true of many birds, Threskiornis molucca – the Australian white ibis – is wonderfully elegant when high in the sky, but rather less so when on terra firma, or in the process of becoming airborne.
(photos copyright Doug Spencer. All were taken within a single second or two, at 6.20 pm on Wednesday 27 January 2021, on southwest shore of Lake Monger, Perth, WA)
The final image in this sequence is the featured photo, above; the wingtips’s feathers are otherwise all-white, but they have just been blackened as they flapped into Lake Monger’s shallow, murky bottom.
Only a human generation or two ago, most urban-dwelling Australian humans would never have seen this species “in town”.
Older Australian humans who “knew” this bird usually “knew” it as a “Sacred ibis”.
Scientists now recognise that Australia’s white ibis is its own distinct species, to which everyday Australians apply many different adjectives and nicknames – all, decidedly secular.
Some 21st century humans are very fond of Threskiornis molucca, others detest it.
As the so-called “bin chicken” takes increasing advantage of the opportunities offered by Australia’s cities, this species looms ever-larger in Australian humans’ consciousness.
Click here for an informative, amusing essay on the rise of the bin chicken… and make sure you see/hear its embedded videos.