Owner Comments:
Coins from Turkey have been a large part of what I collect for a long time, and this was especially true when I was a more active series collector. Now, I’m so pleased to finally add a Turkish coin to my collection of modern dinosaurs with the Northern Bald Ibis, species name Geronticus eremita.
The Northern Bald Ibis is a large, black bird ranging from 28-31 inches in length, with a wingspan range between 4 and 4.5 feet and a weight range of 2.1 to 2.8 pounds. The Northern Bald Ibis gets its name from its bald, pink head, which is a prominent feature. There is minor sexual dimorphism in this species as males are slightly larger than females and they also have longer beaks.
The Northern Bald Ibis is critically endangered, mostly because of where it lives: The Middle East. The near-constant wars and other social and political strife which have characterized the region since the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th Century have led to most of the habitat for the Northern Bald Ibis becoming uninhabitable, which has caused the species to decline rapidly. Further losses have been caused by poisoning due to the continued usage of some very toxic pesticides which are now illegal in many other parts of the world, including the places where Northern Bald Ibis populations continue to exist. Truly wild populations only exist in Morocco with a very few still hanging on in Syria. There is a semi-wild population in southern Turkey, which lives in the wild most of the year until it comes time for them to migrate, at which point they are captured and kept in captivity until the migration season is over. This is done because the annual migration of the Turkish population causes the birds to fly into less stable parts of the Middle East, where they are almost certain to be killed. The Moroccan populations are resident, meaning that they do not migrate. There are also attempts being made to reintroduce the Northern Bald Ibis to Spain and Austria, where populations of these birds existed hundreds of years ago. The reasons for the loss of the Northern Bald Ibis from these European countries is currently unknown, but these reintroduction plans are showing promise. There are also captive breeding programs for this bird in zoos in Asia and North America as well.
As far as feeding goes, the Northern Bald Ibis is a predator, feeding upon lizards, insects and other small animals that it finds in its preferred arid steppe habitat. A further habitat requirement for the Northern Bald Ibis comes in the form of cliffs for nesting and breeding purposes. The Northern Bald Ibis reaches maturity at between 3 and 5 years of age, at which point they select a mate. Males attract females by choosing and cleaning a nest site and then making low, rumbling calls and displaying with their crests. Once a pair bond, it is lifelong and reinforced through bowing and preening. The pair makes a stick nest on a cliff and they produce between two and four blue-white eggs with brown spots, which turn brown as they are incubated. The eggs are incubated by both parents for 24-25 days, after which they hatch producing altricial young. The babies are fed by both parents and they fledge at about 45-50 days of age, with their first flight taking place at the age of two months. If they can survive the challenges that are placed before them by humans, the Northern Bald Ibis can live for 37 years.
The Northern Bald Ibis is a species that has been known to humans for a long time, appearing in both Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs and Roman mosaics. In the Ancient Egyptian religion, Thoth, the scribe of the gods, is often depicted with the head of an Ibis. Sadly, this long association with humans has been largely damaging to the Northern Bald Ibis and fighting among the successor religions to the benign ancient Roman and Egyptian religions, which revered the Ibis, is most of the reason why. Let’s hope that we can make this right and save this majestic and beautiful modern dinosaur so that they can be enjoyed and revered by future generations as they were by our ancestors in the Ancient World.