Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo - Animal Fact Sheet


MARABOU STORK (Leptoptilos crumeniferus)
Range:	Africa – South of the Sahara Desert
Habitat:	Open savannahs near large lakes or rivers.
Diet:	Living prey includes termites, fish, locusts, grasshoppers, caterpillars, frogs, rodents, crocodile eggs and hatchlings, doves, young and adult flamingos, cormorant nestlings, and pelican chicks.
Status	Least Concern (IUCN)
Approx. Dimensions of Adult:	Wingspan: Up to 10.5 feet. Height: Up to 5 feet tall.
Offspring:	Lay 2-3, pale bluish chalky white eggs that are incubated for 29-31 days.
Lifespan:	Up to 25 years.
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 sack 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. Full maturity is not reached for up to four years. 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 also resembles other storks in that it is not very vocal, but indulges in bill-rattling courtship displays. The throat sack is also used to make various noises at that time. The Marabou Stork is a frequent scavenger, and the naked head and neck are adaptations to this, 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.