Marabou Stork (Leptoptilos crumenifer) lives in open savanna and wetland across Sub-Saharan Africa. It feeds on carrion and scraps. Its conservation status is Least Concern.
Fascinating facts about the Marabou Stork
- Its wings can span: the average marabou reaches 2.6 m (8.5 ft), but recorded individuals have stretched to 3.2 m (10 ft). Some researchers even accepted a 3.7 m (12 ft) spread and reported unverified extremes up to 4.06 m (13.3 ft), though no measurement over 3.20 m (10.5 ft) has been confirmed. Most birds, however, fall in the 225-287 cm (7-9 ft) range, still a foot shorter than an Andean condor.
- A fully grown marabou can tower like a five-foot-tall person, reaching 152 cm (5 ft) and weighing up to 9 kg (20 lb). Typical adults fall between 4.5-8 kg (10-17.5 lb), with the lightest at 4 kg (9 lb), and their bodies measure 120-130 cm (47-51 in) from bill to tail. Males are larger than females, and their bills stretch 26.4-35 cm (10.5-14 in).
- Marabous don't breed until they're about as old as a primary-school child: full maturity isn't reached until four years, and sexual maturity also occurs at four years. Females lay two to three eggs, which hatch after a 30-day incubation. In the wild they live roughly 25 years, but in captivity they can reach 43 years.
- Its bald head isn't a fashion statement, it's a practical tool for a life spent inside rotting carcasses. The naked throat and neck keep blood and grime from sticking to feathers while the bird feeds on carrion, much like vultures. Marabous often trail vultures, stealing scraps or waiting for the vultures to finish, and in doing so they help strip away flesh that would otherwise rot. At Nairobi's Dandora dump, showing how human waste now fuels their populations and amplifies their waste-cleaning services.
Sources
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At a glance
RangeSub-Saharan Africa
HabitatOpen savanna and wetland
DietCarrion and scraps
About the Marabou Stork
In the scorching savannas, the Marabou Stork reigns as a majestic and enigmatic figure, its imposing silhouette striding purposefully across the landscape with an air of quiet confidence. With each deliberate step, its long, stilt-like legs devour the distance, as if savoring the hunt for carrion and scraps that sustain its very existence. As it moves, the Marabou's somber, ash-gray feathers seem to absorb the light around it, rendering this formidable bird all but invisible, a phantom of the grasslands.
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Marabou Stork photographed on Feravox
