SEYCHELLES BIRD RECORDS COMMITTEE: Is a new bird invading Seychelles?
They had long curved bills and their plumage was mainly chestnut brown. Beautiful shiny 
Mr Nibourette had never seen anything like these birds before which was not surprising, because no one else in Seychelles had either! News soon reached Michael Betts, Warden of Aride Island and a member of Seychelles Bird Records Committee (SBRC).
He visited the farm and identified the birds as glossy ibis.
There is a related species of ibis on Aldabra, known as the Madagascar sacred ibis (or ibis Malgas in Creole).
This bird is much larger and is mainly white with a black neck, quite unlike the glossy ibis.
But until 2003 no species of ibis of any kind had ever been recorded outside of Aldabra. I took a trip across to La Digue especially to see these birds.
After all, they were completely new to Seychelles so perhaps there would never be another opportunity?
More than five years later in December 2008, I did get an opportunity out of the blue when taking someone visiting Seychelles from RSPB of UK to the golf course at Anse aux Pins.
We had come not to play golf but to see some rare falcons that had turned up at the course. While watching the falcons, a glossy ibis flew in and landed beside a temporary pool of rainwater.
This was an exciting and unexpected bonus to our birdwatching trip.
Glossy ibis breed in East Africa, Madagascar, southern Eurasia and elsewhere. Outside the breeding season some are migratory, especially European birds, which will cross the Sahara Desert to join resident African birds before returning north in the Spring. It is hard to say where exactly these birds came from.
An African origin seems likely due to proximity but Eurasia is also possible because of the migratory nature of northern birds compared to the more settled populations of Africa. In 2008 as in 2003, the ibis did not remain beyond the early months of the year as the urge to migrate took them away from Seychelles once again.
In recent months, the birds have returned once more. First John Phillips (former Cousin Warden and another member of SBRC) reported seeing one on Bird Island. Then more recently, Gérard and Aurora Rocamora saw several birds flying over Eden Island late in the day on a regular basis as if returning to a roost for the night.
Shortly after this, keen birdwatchers visiting Seychelles from South Africa reported seeing the birds on two separate occasions.
The first was as they were arriving by boat at La Digue harbour and the second at pools in the grounds of Ephélia Resort on Mahé.
It is fascinating that suddenly this rare visitor to Seychelles is turning up more frequently. Could it be the prelude to the birds invading Seychelles? That is perfectly possible and indeed not without precedent.
Black-crowned night herons (waterbirds about halfway between a floranten and a mannik) had never been recorded in Seychelles until 1992, when Neil McCulloch, working in Seychelles for BirdLife International, found one near the Interisland Quay at Mahé.
Further sightings followed and within a few years they were breeding on Mahé, Silhouette and Cousin.
All our native birds must have invaded like this at some point during the history of Seychelles. But it is fascinating to see the process continuing even today.
Perhaps it is no coincidence that both the night heron and the ibis are waterbirds. Their natural habitat is under threat the world over and it may be that the drainage of regular breeding sites forced them across the seas to seek new lands.
If so, how sad it would be if they were prevented from gaining a foothold in Seychelles by the same problem. Wetlands everywhere are threatened by human pressures including in Seychelles and along with them the future of these strange and beautiful birds.
If you see any of these birds, please let me know or email SBRC at sbrcsecretary@googlemail.com. You will be adding an important piece of the jigsaw to our understanding of the birds of Seychelles.
The Seychelles Bird Records Committee (SBRC) collects and assesses all records of bird species recorded in Seychelles, particularly rarer species.
by Adrian Skerrett