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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 "Funeral director 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 and some recorded examples of up to .
The common name marabou is thought to be derived from the Arabic word marabout 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.
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 white legs and black 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.
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.
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, , , pelican and cormorant chicks, and even . 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), 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,Kahl M. (2009) ‘ A Contribution to the Ecology and Reproductive Biology of the Marabou Stork (Leptoptilos Crumeniferus) in East Africa’, Journal of Zoology, 148: 289–311. though have reportedly preyed on some individuals in ambush.Tumenta, P. N. et al. 2013. Lion predation on livestock and native wildlife in Waza National Park, northern Cameroon.– Mammalia 77: 247–251. A number of endoparasites have been identified in wild marabous including Cheilospirura, Echiura 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.
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