Scientific name: Leptoptilos crumeniferus
The marabou is unmistakable due to its size, bare head and neck, black back, and white underparts. It has a huge bill, a pink gular sac at its throat, a neck ruff, and black legs and wings. The sexes are alike, but the young bird is browner and has a smaller bill. Unlike most storks, the three Leptoptilos species fly with the neck retracted like a heron. Full maturity is not reached for up to four years.
The marabou stork is a massive bird: large specimens are thought to reach a height of 152 cm (60 in) and a weight of 9 kg (20 lb).[2][3] A wingspan of 3.7 m (12 ft) was accepted by Fisher and Peterson, who ranked the species as having the largest wing-spread of any living bird. Even higher measurements of up to 4.06 m (13.3 ft) have been reported, although no measurement over 3.19 m (10.5 ft) has been verified.
Occupies much of sub-Saharan Africa, largely excluding the lowland forest of West Africa. In southern Africa, it is fairly common to locally abundant in central and southern Mozambique, Zimbabwe, north-eastern South Africa, northern Botswana and central and northern Namibia (including the Caprivi Strip). It generally prefers open semi-arid habitats and wetlands, such as pans, dams and rivers.
It behaves in a manner similar to vultures, as it is primarily a scavenger, soaring overhead in search of carcasses. It is also an opportunistic hunter, catching fish by wading through water and stabbing them with its bill, hawking termites aerially, hunting birds and raiding their nests.
