Chicks at the Northern Bald Ibises

The aviary built into the side of the Kisszikla (“Little Rock”) in the Zoo is home not only to griffon vultures, but also to several other bird species—including a colony of northern bald ibises. These birds deserve particular attention right now, as several chicks are growing in their nest area, which was built on an artificial rock ledge.

The Hungarian name tarvarjú can be misleading. It’s true that these birds have no feathers on the top of their heads, hence the word “bald.” However, they are not actually related to crows. In fact, northern bald ibises belong to the ibis family. Among bird species native to Hungary, the glossy ibis is their closest relative. According to 19th-century zoologist Ottó Herman, northern bald ibises may once have lived in the Carpathian Basin during the Middle Ages. Over time, however, they disappeared not only from this region, but from almost all of Europe. Their populations in the Middle East and in the Maghreb (northwest Africa) have also declined drastically, which is why the species is now listed as globally threatened.

The Budapest Zoo has been keeping and breeding northern bald ibises for over 25 years. We not only display them to the public, but we have also created suitable conditions for them to breed regularly. Every successful hatching is a positive development—and each chick contributes to the survival of the species. Our Zoo takes part in a coordinated European breeding program aimed at conservation. As part of this program, young birds hatched in Budapest have been transferred to other institutions, such as the zoos in Ostrava (Czech Republic), Zurich, Plzeň, Opole, Amsterdam, and Sharjah (United Arab Emirates), among others.

As part of wider conservation work, several reintroduction programs have also been launched. These initiatives aim to re-establish northern bald ibis populations in areas where they used to live but have since gone extinct. In the past, we contributed birds to an Austrian reintroduction program that began in 2001. More recently, we have supported Proyecto Eremita, a Spanish conservation project. We have also published a short video about this reintroduction initiative and the northern bald ibises hatched in Budapest that took part in it—available on our Zoo’s YouTube channel.