The name Marabou Stork means ‘Ugly Old Man’. It’s a very common bird in the area, and is also one of the biggest flying birds. It weighs about 9,5 kg and its wingspan is about 2.9 metres.
The Marabou Stork is a familiar scavenger at a kill. Their bills are not adapted to eat meat, so they shadow the vultures and steal pieces of meat that the vultures have torn off. They are known to wash off their meat before they swallow it.
They have white long legs; this is because they defecate on them. These birds are gregarious and commonly roost in trees at night. Marabou Storks will eat just about any kind of animal, dead or alive.
It takes a real bird lover to see past all of this stork’s peculiar adornments to recognize the scruffy charm underneath.
Story by: Richard Brune – River Lodge Ranger
