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The northern bald ibis, hermit ibis, or waldrapp (''Geronticus eremita'') is a migratory bird found in barren, semi-desert or rocky habitats, often close to running water. This glossy black ibis, which, unlike other members of the ibis family, is non-wading, has an unfeathered red face and head, and a long, curved red bill. It breeds colonially on coastal or mountain cliff ledges, where it typically lays two to three eggs in a stick nest, and feeds on lizards, insects, and other small animals. The northern bald ibis was once widespread across the Middle East, northern Africa, southern and central Europe, with a fossil record dating back at least 1.8 million years. It disappeared from Europe over 300 years ago, and is now considered critically endangered. There are believed to be about 500 wild birds remaining in southern Morocco, and fewer than 10 in Syria, where it was rediscovered in 2002. To combat this ebb in numbers, recent reintroduction programs have been instituted internationally, with a semi-wild breeding colony in Turkey, as well as sites in Austria, Spain, and northern Morocco. The reasons for the species' long-term decline are unclear, but hunting, loss of foraging habitat, and pesticide poisoning have been implicated in the rapid loss of colonies in recent decades. == Taxonomy == The ibises are gregarious, long-legged wading birds with long down-curved bills. Along with the spoonbills they form one subfamily within the Threskiornithidae family.〔 The northern bald ibis' closest relative, and the only other member of the genus, is the southern bald ibis, ''G. calvus'', of southern Africa. The two ''Geronticus'' species differ from other ibises in that they have unfeathered faces and heads, breed on cliffs rather than in trees, and prefer arid habitats to the wetlands used by their relatives.〔〔 The northern bald ibis was described and illustrated by Swiss naturalist Conrad Gesner in his ''Historiae animalium'' in 1555,〔Gesner (1555) pp. 337–8 "Corvo sylvatico"〕 and given the binomial name ''Upupa eremita'' by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 ''Systema Naturae''.〔 It was moved to its current genus by the German herpetologist Johann Georg Wagler in 1832.〔 This species has an interesting history of description, oblivion and rediscovery.〔(History of a confusion (2) ). northernbaldibis.blogspot.com.es (2012-07-05)〕 The species probably split into two distinct populations at least 400 years ago and, since then, the two populations have been diverging morphologically, ecologically, and genetically;〔 nevertheless, the Turkish and Moroccan populations of this ibis are not currently classed as separate subspecies.〔 One consistent difference between the eastern and western birds is a single mutation in the cytochrome b gene of their mitochondrial DNA. Fossils of the northern bald ibis have been found at a Holocene (c. 10,000 years ago) site in southern France, in middle Pleistocene (c. 900,000 years ago) strata in Sicily, and in Pliocene-Pleistocene boundary (c. 1.8 million years ago) deposits on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. What appears to be an ancestral form, ''Geronticus balcanicus'', was found in the late Pliocene of Bulgaria, further illustrating the early widespread presence of this genus in Europe, and suggesting that ''Geronticus eremita'' may have originated in south-eastern Europe or the Middle East.〔 The genus name, ''Geronticus'', is derived from the Ancient Greek , meaning ''old man'' and refers to the bald head of the aged.〔Brookes (2006) p. 507〕 ''Eremita'' is Late Latin for ''hermit'', from the Greek , meaning ''desert'',〔Brookes (2006) p. 621〕 and refers to the arid habitats inhabited by this species. The alternative common name ''waldrapp'' is German for ''forest crow'',〔Brookes (2006) p. 1713〕 the equivalent of the Latin ''Corvo sylvatico'' of Gesner,〔 adapted as ''Corvus sylvaticus'' by Linnaeus.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「northern bald ibis」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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