Marabou Storks are one of the largest flying birds in the world. A large male Marabou Stork, standing up to 1.5 m (60 in) tall and weighing nearly 9 kg (20 lbs); their wingspan is nearly 2.9 m (10.5 ft). Females are generally smaller. As scavengers, they eat pretty everything, whether alive or not. They like to pick through lions’ and tigers’ leftovers. But they didn’t refuse termites, fish, locusts, grasshoppers, army-worm caterpillars, frogs, rodents, crocodile eggs and hatchlings, quelea nestlings, doves, young and adult flamingos, cormorant nestlings, and pelican chicks. Marabous have nearly bald, spotted, scab-encrusted head, with its huge meat-cleaver bill. Dark, wispy hair-like feathers are scattered sparsely across the head, neck, and nape.
The Marabou Stork is found throughout most of tropical Africa, mostly in dry open savannahs near large lakes or rivers. They will often leave an area during the rainy season. Marabous are often found around fishing villages, slaughterhouses, and rubbish dumps. Marabou Storks nest in colonies, often together with other species of scavengers and waterbirds. Females lay one to two eggs, and both parents share the job of sitting on the eggs in the nest. Marabou storks can live up to twenty-five years.
