Marabou Stork

Marabouts ( Leptoptilos Crumeniferus )

The marabou ( Leptoptilos Crumeniferus ) is a species of bird occurring in Africa from the stork family ( ciconiidae ). The marabou is located in sub-Saharan Africa.

Mark

Among the Marabu storks heard with a total length of 140 cm of the largest representatives. Its wingspan of 300 cm is the Andean Condor with 325 cm zoom. Head and neck of the Marabu are only slightly bedaunt. Its plumage is on the back, wings and tail dark gray with green luster, the underside is white. It is also characteristic of the throat pouch, which does not serve as a goiter.

Way of life

As scavengers of Marabu uses his extremely strong, about 35 cm long beak to break up the abdominal wall of dead animals to come to their guts. Even his bare head has him as his " table-companions ," the vultures as scavengers of. Federlos it is easier to get rid of blood and meat residues remain on penetration liable in animal bodies and must be removed for reasons of hygiene. Cleaning the head feathers falling birds inherently difficult. Also the flight pattern of the marabou is reminiscent of the vultures, as he holds out carcasses floating by with outspread wings like vultures while feeding the neck. Marabou storks settle preferentially in areas of where the food volume is plentiful, and are therefore often found near human settlements, where they like to browse the dumps. In addition, marabou storks feed on grasshoppers and other insects from the pups of small mammals (eg mongoose ) of chicks flamingos and also. Huddled by the shrinking pools of fish and amphibians

Reproduction

Since many animals die especially in the dry season, place the marabou their two to three eggs so that they hatch in the dry season, when the table is ample for marabou covered. The breeding colonies are created on trees or on cliffs. The incubation period is about 30 days, and both parents incubate the eggs. The pups need to be fed by the parents then little more than four months.

Others

Since these birds are extremely useful as carrion and Schädlingsvertilger, it is in the interest of the people, to protect them as well as possible from persecution. Your soft coverts because of the breeding plumage, which are used in the fashion industry and has always been in forensics use, these birds are in some areas heavily hunted and endangers.

Even today, these springs are used to visualize a fingerprint at the crime scene photographs of the criminal investigation. By means of the springs is applied to track the possible carrier of carbon black powder. The springs allow a gentle application of the powder to stay so that traces of soot hanging in the abgedrückten ridges.