What to Know About Marabou Stork in Uganda?

The Marabou Stork in Uganda is one of the African birds in Uganda seen during Uganda birding safaris. It is a huge walking stork bird in the family Ciconiidae. It breeds in both wet and arid habitats of Uganda, frequently in towns and other areas of large human habitation.

It is also known as the “undertaker bird” because of its shape from behind. The wings are cloak-like and back.

Marabou name came from the Arabic word “murabit” which means quiet or hermit-like.  Marabou storks can live up to 25 years in the wild.

How Does the Marabou Stork in Uganda Look Like?

Marabou storks are easily identifiable by their long grey legs. The legs usually look white due to a build-up of excrement.

Marabou storks stand averagely at a height 1.52m (5ft) and average weight is 9kg (20lbs). Their maximum wingspan is 3.19m (10.5ft) across.

The tall bill measures approximately 26-35cm. Males are slightly larger than the females. The wings are dark grey.

The neck is a little hairy but without feathers and pink in color as is the face. It has a lot of black spots at the forehead and base of the bill.

This beak is wedge molded and colored greenish yellow or horn. The pink wattle beneath the bill is fleshy and inflated.

When the wattle is inflated, it can reach a diameter of 25-35cm. Their lower plumage is off-white, tail fluffs are soft and white and the nape is white hair.

How Does the Marabou Stork in Uganda Feed?

Marabou storks are carnivores and forage mostly by scavenging. They forage on every fresh that is available, whether dead or alive, but mostly lizards, frogs, insects, rats, mice, birds, fish, crocodile eggs, young crocodiles and snakes.

In towns, the forage in dustbins and others areas where leftovers are dumped, looking for meat. They also scavenge by escorting vultures, waiting for them to drop some meat.

How Does the Marabou Stork in Uganda Reproduce?

Marabou storks breed in the the dry season when the water levels have dropped and their prey like fish are easier to find.

They congregate in groups in a territory established by male. Then he welcomes new comers with an inflated throat pouch which it uses to greet.

The male then accepts a dating female into his terrain and they form a pair which builds the nest. The nest is made of sticks on a cliff side in a tree, occasionally on top of buildings in villages.

The female lays 2-3 eggs, deposited in a 2-3 day pause between each egg I the nest. Chicks hatch in a period of 30 days after incubation.

At hatching, chicks are covered with grey plumage and fledging happens after about 13-15 weeks. Mostly one of the 3 chicks will reach fledging time. The hatched marabou stork reaches sexual maturity at four years.