Sampling Australian White Ibis for pathogens
In recent decades, Australian White Ibis Threskiornis molucca have settled in the Sydney region in large numbers. A significant population has found the urban habitat to be a suitable one and a number of breeding colonies are now established across the region.
A particularly rare bacterial pathogen has been detected at several sites in the Sydney region. These sites are frequented by a number of birds, among them the Australian White Ibis.
The NSW Department of Health contracted me to sample the droppings of these birds in an effort to establish if the ibis are carrying this pathogen. I surveyed the localiites, recorded ibis numbers and occurrence and took a quantity of samples for testing.
Further studies on this and other species will be conducted pending the results of testing on the samples provided.
The project commenced in May 2008 and is ongoing.