MARABOU STOCK FOR A CLEANER CITY
Marabou stocks play a great role in ensuring that our city is clean. They eat all kinds of waste from the garbage deposited by humans. Anything that can be swallowed is food for these birds. Imagine, they eat even shoes and metals. They are great scavengers eating anything including feaces, carrion and scraps. They also eat frogs, eggs, fish, insects, doves, pigeons, pelican and flaming chicks.
The marabou stock or Leptoptilos crumenifer are found in the Sub-Saharan Africa’s wet and arid lands. They often live near landfill sites from where they obtain their food.
Most people call them “undertaker birds.”
Specifications
Height: 152 cm (maximum)
Wingspan: 3.7 M
weight: 9Kg
Bill: huge
Gular sac: pink in color and hangs at its throat
The Marabou Stork is actually a massive bird. It has the largest wingspan for any bird alive. The sexes look the save and it takes them 4 years to reach maturity.
Where can I see Marabou Stork?
You see these bird near Nyayo Stadium in Nairobi City, Kenya. They perch on the trees around the stadium.
Economic Uses
They are used for trimming various items such as hats, fishing lures and clothing.
For additional information on this story, kindly contact Geoffrey Kerosi via email: info@kerosi.com or mobile: 0713 211 256.
