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Kolophon |
Google Analytics
First Edition September 2010
ISBN 978-0-596-15800-2
216 Seiten
EUR24.50
Weitere Informationen zu diesem Buch
Kolophon |
Kolophon
The animal on the cover of Google Analytics is
the African sacred ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus).
This bird was revered in ancient Egypt as a symbol of the god Thoth, who was
usually portrayed with the head of an ibis. It was common for the birds to
be ritually mummified and buried with high officials as representations of
wisdom--however, killing them for secular reasons was punishable by death.
The word "ibis" is Greek, but itself derived from the ancient Egyptian
â??hîb.â?
Though worshipped there in the past, the sacred ibis no longer ranges
through Egypt. In that country, its marshland habitat has been largely
destroyed by the spread of civilization. The birds still thrive in
sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Iraq. They have also been introduced into
France, Italy, and Spain, perhaps to the detriment of local species like
terns and egrets: the ibises prey upon them and usurp their nesting grounds.
The sacred ibis is highly social and lives in large colonies not only for
nesting season, but also for regular activities like feeding and sleeping,
making it rather formidable competition.
Sacred ibises are large long-legged birds (around 25-29 inches tall)
with white plumage and black tail feathers. An ibis's head and neck are
bald, with black scaly skin. All ibis species have slender downturned beaks,
with which they forage for food in shallow water, mud, and occasionally dry
land. Their diet consists primarily of small aquatic insects and amphibians,
but they will also eat smaller birds, reptiles, and mammals.
Folklore has it that the ibis is the last wild animal to take shelter
before a hurricane, and also the first to appear afterward, showing that the
storm has passed. Presumably, the bird has an innate instinct for predicting
the timing of bad weather.
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