Marabou Stork
Leptoptilos crumenifer
- Class
- Bird
- Rarity
- Rare
- Observations
- 5,166
- Most observed in
- 🇰🇪 Kenya
- Conservation
- Least Concern
Description
The marabou stork (Leptoptilos crumenifer) is a large wading bird in the stork family Ciconiidae native to sub-Saharan Africa. It breeds in both wet and arid habitats, often near human habitation, especially landfill sites. It is sometimes called the "undertaker bird" due to its shape from behind: cloak-like wings and back, skinny white legs, and sometimes a large white mass of "hair". It has often been credited with the largest wingspan of any land bird, with an average of 2.6 metres (8.5 ft) and some recorded examples of up to 3.2 metres (10 ft).
Summary adapted from the Wikipedia article “Marabou stork”.