The bird with the interesting name marabu belongs to the family of storks and lives, as a rule, in South Asia, as well as in southern Sahara. Translated from Arabic, "marabu" - is a "Muslim theologian." It should be noted that representatives of the Islamic religion consider this bird to be wise.
Marabu (bird): species description
In length, representatives of this species reach almost one and a half meters, young birds have, so to speak, mottled color - the lower part of the plumage is white, the upper is black. The head is practically devoid of plumage, on the neck of adult individuals there is something like a leather bag. This throat sac has a connection with the nostrils, so it can gain air and subside, while the marabou (bird) rests. The photo clearly demonstrates the bright, outstanding appearance of the creation.
The lack of plumage on the head and neck of the bird is due to the peculiarity of its nutrition. The fact is that the marabou feed on carrion, so nature prudently deprived them of such a cover so that the feathers did not become contaminated with food. Like all representatives of the order Ciconiiformes, they have an expressive thick beak 30 cm long. With such a "tool" the bird easily breaks through the skin of an animal, and can also swallow whole bones. Also, marabou can absorb rodents, some amphibians and insects.
Breeding
Marabou are birds that make large nests, mounted on 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, incubate eggs in turn. As a rule, 2-3 eggs are present in the nest. The process of maturation of the chick lasts about a month, after which it is born.
Nutrition
The main competitors of this species are vultures, but the marabou cannot do without the help of marabou in cutting up the dead carcass. Only they can easily cope with the opening of a dead animal, thanks to their sharp beak.
They peep out their prey, rising high into the sky, sometimes they can rise to 4,500 meters from the ground. This seems surprising, taking into account the fact that marabou is, to put it mildly, a heavy bird, but it provides 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 rather humid. Marabou are birds that settle in colonies. They locate their settlements, as a rule, in the neighborhood of pastures of various artiodactyl animals, as well as near farms and landfills.
These birds are not assigned the most aesthetic role, but someone must 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 flash 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 place for a new “feeding”, they do it together - a sight, it should be noted, quite majestic and impressive.