Talk:Marabou stork/Archive 1

Latest comment: 1 year ago by Adam Cuerden in topic Featured picture scheduled for POTD
Archive 1

Image

 

I just uploaded this photo, taken by myself in Kenya in 2002. It's not a very good shot of the birds themselves, but it shows how they are often seen, sitting atop trees like that. Personally, I found it dead creepy to walk out of the supermarket and see them up there, glaring at me. -GTBacchus(talk) 19:24, 31 December 2006 (UTC)

Wingspan of atleast 10.5 feet?

Is there a source for this statement?

I've read of an old reported specimen measuring 13 feet in wingspan. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.175.55.204 (talk) 05:02, 15 July 2008 (UTC)

Description

The description of the bird is directly contradicted by the image; the stork's legs and beak are not black. What's up with that?

96.48.247.0 (talk) 23:19 , 27 April 2009 (UTC)

The description says that the legs and back are black, not the beak. Many images show whitish legs because marabous, like many other storks, like to cool themselves in hot weather by defecating down their legs (a behavior called urohidrosis). If you look carefully you may see clean parts of the legs which are dark. --Colin Douglas Howell (talk) 08:14, 19 July 2016 (UTC)

this bird as the largest wing span

File:Marabou stork, Leptoptilos crumeniferus edit1.jpg to appear as POTD

Hello! This is a note to let the editors of this article know that File:Marabou stork, Leptoptilos crumeniferus edit1.jpg will be appearing as picture of the day on February 12, 2013. You can view and edit the POTD blurb at Template:POTD/2013-02-12. If this article needs any attention or maintenance, it would be preferable if that could be done before its appearance on the Main Page. Thanks! — Crisco 1492 (talk) 00:26, 6 February 2013 (UTC)

The Marabou Stork (Leptoptilos crumeniferus) is an African wading bird which feeds mostly on carrion. With a wingspan verified to reach 3.19 m (10.5 ft), it has one of the largest wingspans of any land bird. This specimen was found in Mikumi National Park, Tanzania.Photograph: Muhammad Mahdi Karim

Featured picture scheduled for POTD

Hello! This is to let editors know that File:Marabou stork (Leptoptilos crumenifer) head.jpg, a featured picture used in this article, has been selected as the English Wikipedia's picture of the day (POTD) for December 6, 2022. A preview of the POTD is displayed below and can be edited at Template:POTD/2022-12-06. For the greater benefit of readers, any potential improvements or maintenance that could benefit the quality of this article should be done before its scheduled appearance on the Main Page. If you have any concerns, please place a message at Wikipedia talk:Picture of the day. Thank you! Adam Cuerden (talk)Has about 7.9% of all FPs 12:11, 1 June 2022 (UTC)

 

The marabou stork (Leptoptilos crumenifer) is a large species of wading bird in the stork family, Ciconiidae. Breeding in sub-Saharan Africa, it 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 and 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. Though known to eat putrid and seemingly inedible foods, these storks may sometimes wash food in water to remove soil. Increasingly, marabous have become dependent on human garbage and hundreds of the birds can be found around African dumps or waiting for a handout in urban areas. Those eating garbage have been seen to devour virtually anything that they can swallow, including shoes and pieces of metal, and those conditioned to eating from human sources have been known to lash out when refused food. This marabou stork was photographed in Queen Elizabeth National Park in southwestern Uganda.

Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp

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Capital "M" on "marabou"?

I have removed capital letter "M"s from the word "marabou" (and capital letter "S"s from "stork") as per the Encyclopedia of Birds. [1] Is there any reason not to do so?