The bird with the interesting name marabou belongs to the stork family and lives, as a rule, in South Asia, as well as in the south of the Sahara. Translated from Arabic, "marabou" means "Muslim theologian." It should be noted that representatives of the Islamic religion consider this bird to be wise.
Marabou (bird): species description
In length, representatives of this species reach almost one and a half meters, young birds have, so to speak, a mottled color - the lower part of the plumage is white, the upper one is black. The head is practically devoid of plumage, on the neck of adults there is something like a leathery bag. This throat pouch is connected to the nostrils so it can take in air and fall off while the marabou (bird) is resting. The photo clearly demonstrates the bright, outstanding appearance of the creature.
The lack of plumage on the head and neck of a bird is due to the peculiarity of its diet. The fact is that marabou feed on carrion, so nature prudently deprived them of such a cover so that the feathers would not get dirty while eating. Like all representatives of the stork order, they have an expressive thick beak 30 cm long. With such a “tool”, the bird easily pierces the skin of an animal, and can also swallow wholebones. Also, marabou can absorb rodents, some amphibians and insects.
Reproduction
Marabu are birds that make large nests, fortified on the tops of trees. The "house" of these feathered individuals can reach a diameter of one meter. Birds carefully line it with leaves and tree branches from the inside. Individuals of this species live in pairs, incubating eggs are engaged in turns. As a rule, there are 2-3 eggs in the nest. The process of maturation of the chick lasts about a month, after which it is born.
Food
The main competitors of this species are vultures, but the latter cannot do without the help of a marabou in butchering a dead carcass. Only they easily cope with the autopsy of a dead animal, thanks to their sharp beak.
They look out for their prey, rising high into the sky, sometimes they can rise to 4500 meters from the ground. This seems surprising, considering the fact that the marabou is a heavy bird, to put it mildly, but it provides itself with such a grandiose flight using ascending air currents.
Habitat Features
As noted earlier, these birds live in warm countries where the climate is hot, but quite humid. Marabou are birds that live in colonies. They locate their settlements, as a rule, next to the pastures of various artiodactyl animals, as well as next to farms and landfills.
These birds are not assigned the most aesthetic role, but someonemust clean up the garbage, and, by the will of nature, they became such “orderlies”. Indeed, thanks to these birds, various epidemics are prevented, the foci of which flare up here and there in these climatic conditions. These birds rarely leave their usual place of residence, however, if they have to move in search of a new "feeding" place, they do it together - a sight, it should be noted, quite majestic and impressive.
