The Owl Rescue Centre managed to track down the injured hadeda sighted in Johannesburg with an arrow stuck in its body.
Last week, the organisation appealed to the public for help to find it, and a few residents reported sightings in the Greenside area.
The hadeda was recovered and is safely in the care of the conservationists at the centre.
‘Got him.. This little Hadeda has become a bit of a celebrity over the last week. We will doctor him over the next couple of days and then he can go back home to continue singing the song of his people!’ the Centre posted on Facebook.
Got him.. This little Hadeda has become a bit of a celebrity over the last week. We will doctor him over the next couple days and then he can go back home to continue singing the song of his people😉
Posted by Owl Rescue Centre on Tuesday, 2 February 2021
Relief poured in and many shared some tongue-in-cheek comments about the hadeda, arguably South Africa’s loudest, and sometimes peskiest bird.
‘See, I don’t know if I hate or love them. People say they’re a pest, but then I wake up in the morning… and as I open my eyes, I catch the first rays off the water outside my room with a hadeda on the other side of the pool. The metallic colours on its body makes me feel holy and its graceful strut, makes me quiet. Me and them, for a while, have no No todo list,’ one user commented.
‘Although they drive me mad, these birds, thank you to all involved for caring and helping him,’ another added. The happy news even sparked a whole conversation around the sounds hadedas make. ‘Is this the bird that says “Haaaaaaaaa” in the morning?’ on user commented.
‘No. this is the one that says haaaaaa haaaaaa haaaaa haaaaa until your brain almost explode!’ someone else commented.
Picture: Owl Rescue Centre
