Marabou stork

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".

Taxonomy

The marabou stork was formally described in 1831 by the French naturalist René Lesson. He placed it in the stork genus '' Ciconia'' and coined the binomial name ''Ciconia crumenifera''. He specified that locality as Senegal. The species is now placed with the lesser adjutant and the greater adjutant in the genus '' Leptoptilos'' that Lesson had introduced at the same time he described the marabou stork. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.

The common name marabou is thought to be derived from the Arabic word '' murābit'' meaning quiet or hermit-like. The species was originally described as ''Ciconia crumenifera''. When the species was moved into the genus ''Leptoptilos'', the ending was modified to ''crumeniferus'' and this was used by many authors until it was noted that the correct masculine ending to match the genus is ''crumenifer''.

Description

The marabou stork is a massive bird: large specimens are thought to reach a height of and a weight of . A wingspan of 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 have been reported, although no measurement over has been verified. It is often credited with the largest spread of any landbird, to rival the Andean condor; more typically, however, these storks measure across the wings, which is about a foot less than the average Andean condor wingspan and nearly two feet less than the average of the largest albatrosses and pelicans. Typical weight is , unusually as low as , and length (from bill to tail) is . Females are smaller than males. Bill length can range from . Unlike most storks, the three '' Leptoptilos'' species fly with the neck retracted like a heron.

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 (''crumenifer(us)'' means "carrier of a pouch for money"), a neck ruff, and black legs and wings. The sexes are alike, but the young bird is browner and has a smaller bill. Full maturity is not reached for up to four years.

Behavior and ecology

Like most storks, the marabou is gregarious and a colonial breeder. In the African dry season (when food is more readily available as the pools shrink), it builds a tree nest in which two or three eggs are laid. It is known to be quite ill-tempered.

It also resembles other storks in that it is not very vocal, but indulges in bill-rattling courtship displays. The throat sac is also used to make various noises at that time.

Breeding

The marabou stork breeds in Africa south of the Sahara. In East Africa, the birds interact with humans and breed in urban areas. In southern African countries, the birds breed mainly in less populated areas. The marabou stork breeds in colonies, starting during the dry season. The female lays two to three eggs in a small nest made of sticks; eggs hatch after an incubation period of 30 days. Their young reach sexual maturity at 4 years of age. Lifespan is 43 years in captivity and 25 years in wild.

Feeding

The marabou stork is a frequent scavenger, and the naked head and long neck are adaptations to this livelihood, as it is with the vultures with which the stork often feeds. In both cases, a feathered head would become rapidly clotted with blood and other substances when the bird's head was inside a large corpse, and the bare head is easier to keep clean.

This large and powerful bird eats mainly carrion, scraps, and faeces but will opportunistically eat almost any animal matter it can swallow. It occasionally eats other birds including ''Quelea'' nestlings, pigeons, doves, pelican and cormorant chicks, and even flamingos. During the breeding season, adults scale back on carrion and take mostly small, live prey since nestlings need this kind of food to survive. Common prey at this time may consist of fish, frogs, insects, eggs, small mammals and reptiles such as crocodile hatchlings and eggs,Hancock, Kushlan & Kahl, Storks, ''Storks, Ibises and Spoonbills of the World''. Princeton University Press (1992), and lizards and snakes. Though known to eat putrid and seemingly inedible foods, these storks may sometimes wash food in water to remove soil.

When feeding on carrion, marabou frequently follow vultures, which are better equipped with hooked bills for tearing through carrion meat and may wait for the vultures to cast aside a piece, steal a piece of meat directly from the vulture or wait until the vultures are done. As with vultures, marabou storks perform an important natural function by cleaning areas via their ingestion of carrion and waste.

Increasingly, marabous have become dependent on human garbage and hundreds of the huge birds can be found around African dumps or waiting for a hand out in urban areas. Marabous eating human garbage have been seen to devour virtually anything that they can swallow, including shoes and pieces of metal. Marabous conditioned to eating from human sources have been known to lash out when refused food.

Threats

Fully grown marabou storks have few natural enemies, and have high annual survival rate, though lions have reportedly preyed on some individuals in ambush.
A number of endoparasites have been identified in wild marabous including ''Cheilospirura'', ''Echinura'' and ''Acuaria'' nematodes, ''Amoebotaenia sphenoides'' (Cestoda) and ''Dicrocoelium hospes'' (Trematoda).

Human uses

Marabou down is frequently used in the trimming of various items of clothing and hats, as well as fishing lures.''The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English 2008''
(Oxford University Press, 2008) Turkey down and similar feathers have been used as a substitute for making 'marabou' trimming.

In tarot and tarock, the Marabou forms part of "the Birds", together with the Sparrow (I of trumps), Eagle Owl (II of trumps), and the Cockatoo (III of trumps); sometimes "the Birds" also include the Dodo (V of trumps).

Gallery

File:Marabou stork, Leptoptilos crumeniferus edit1.jpg, Mikumi National Park, Tanzania
File:The Big Game of Africa (1910) - Giant Marabou.png, Large marabou stork, British East Africa
File:Marabou Stork (Leptoptilos crumeniferus) skeleton at the Royal Veterinary College anatomy museum.JPG, Skeleton of a marabou stork
File:The Childrens Museum of Indianapolis - Marabou stork skull cast.jpg, Skull cast from a ''Leptoptilos crumenifer'' displays its long beak
File:Leptoptilos crumeniferus and vultures -Masai Mara -Kenya-8.jpg, A Marabou stork and Griffon vultures (''G. fulvus'') scavenging in the Masai Mara, Kenya
File:BLW Evening Cloak.jpg, 1920 cloak trimmed with marabou feathers
File:Marabou stork (Leptoptilos crumenifer) spreading wings.jpg, spreading wings, Uganda
File:Marabou stork (Leptoptilos crumenifer) spreading wings 2.jpg, spreading wings, Ethiopia
Marabou storks (Leptoptilos crumenifer) on elephant carcass.jpg, feeding on elephant carcass

References

External links

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Marabou Stork
– ''The Atlas of Southern African Birds''

{{Taxonbar, from=Q512737

marabou stork
Scavengers
Birds of Sub-Saharan Africa
marabou stork
Birds of East Africa
marabou stork