 | The Middle Lake Ibis Rookery is 10 kilometres NW of Kerang. Middle Lake Ibis Rookery is a popular destination for both nature lovers and bird watchers. Also a great destination for lovers of the great outdoors, providing areas both to enjoy the scenery and to gather for recreation.
When you visit Middle Lake you will be visiting a world Ramsar listed wetland.
Each spring over 200,000 Ibis nest in the Reedy Lake Sanctuary, regarded as one of the largest in the world. |
Middle Lake Ibis Rookery offers an elevated Bird Hide that is open for use at all times at no charge. This is the perfect position to view the magnificent bird life. The best viewing times being at dawn and dusk when thousands of Ibis and other bird life leave or return to their nests.
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The bird hide offers the viewer the perfect place to watch the Sacred White Ibis, other species of Ibis and other spectacular water birds such as pelicans, spoonbills, swans and egrets.
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Pictured Right: Middle Lake
Ibis Rookery Bird Hide.
Pictured Far Right: Inside the Bird Hide. |
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| THE IBIS |
There are three species of Ibis indigenous to Australia, the White Ibis, the Straw-necked Ibis and the Glossy Ibis. All three species of Ibis inhabit the Rookery, although the Glossy Ibis is absent at some times, being nomadic.
The White Ibis is identified by its almost entire white body plumege and black head and neck. The head is featherless and the bill is long and down-curved to probe the water and ground for insects. The White Ibis- also known as the Sacred White Ibis is a descendant of one of the flying dinosaurs, the Pterodactyl. |
HABITAT
The White Ibis can be observed in all but the driest habitats. Preferred habitats include swamps, lagoons, floodplains and grass lands, but it has also become a successful inhabitant of urban parks and gardens. From the bird hide you can see large colonies of Ibis nesting on islands of reed and lignum. Nesting season being from September through to December.
 Pictured Left: Wetlands at Middle Lake | FEEDING
Ibis frequently travel between 300 and 40 kilometres from these wetlands to feed. If you are at the Bird Hide at dusk, you may see the Ibis returning to their nests to roost. They fly in a V formation and often use thermals to ascend to great heights.
The range of food includes both terrestrial and aquatic invertebrates and human scraps. The most favoured foods are all types of insects particularly crickets as well as yabbies and mussels, which the bird obtains by digging with its long bill.
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BREEDING
The male secures a pairing territory on a branch of a tall tree in order to attract a female. The courtship ceremony involves the male putting on a noisy display, as well as showing aggression towards other males. When a female arrives, the male attracts her by bowing from his branch. He then offers the female a twig, forging a bond when shes grasps it and they begin to preen one another. Once the pair bond is cemented, the birds fly off to build a nest at another location. One or two broods may be reared in a year with the female producing two to five eggs.
Pictured Below: Ibis Chicks in Nest | |
Pictured Above:
Wetlands at Middle Lake |
To find out more check these pages-
Kerang Information Centre Birdwatching Reedy Lakes Kerang Lakes Systems
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