We know hadedas are noisy, but did you know they have a 'sixth sense' drawing them to your garden?

South Africans love to hate hadedas, aka 'Africa's alarm clock'.

But the noise factor is not the reason that the hadeda ibis (Bostrychia hagedash) features on CapeTalk's Afternoon Drive this time around.

A study has revealed details of these birds' extraordinary sensory capabilities and clarified why perhaps they are now found across South, and Southern Africa.

Led by ornithologist Dr Carla du Toit, the study reveals that hadedas possess a virtual 'sixth sense' that allows them to detect vibrations in the soil and find their prey even if they can't detect these with their other senses.

"Broadly speaking, hadedas and various other groups of birds have this sense that they are able to detect vibrations in the soil using a special organ in their beaks. These vibrations in many cases result from the movement of little worms or invertebrates... and the birds can detect those and actually locate their prey even if they can't see, hear, or smell them."

Dr Carla du Toit, University of Cambridge

The main focus of the study was how the levels of water in the soil affect the hadedas' ability to sense these vibrations and find their prey.

While we may find them almost everywhere today, historically these birds were restricted to the eastern parts of South Africa, Dr du Toit says.

This makes them a good example of how animals can actually follow changes in habitats across a given area, she explains.

"Over the last 100 years they've spread out and as we know now they're everywhere from Joburg to Cape Town - anywhere near bigger cities and farmlands."

"One of the factors tied to this, if we map out artificial irrigation in gardens and farmlands... is it seems that hadedas have followed the irrigation of soils by human beings."

"One of the things that we thought, was that the reason for this is because it may be easier for them to detect vibrations in wetter soils."

Dr Carla du Toit, University of Cambridge