Marabou Stork
Liz Bonnin presents the gaunt undertaker-looking marabou stork in Africa.
Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.
Liz Bonnin presents the gaunt undertaker-looking marabou stork in Africa. It is not very scientific to describe a bird as ugly, but the marabou stork would not win any prizes for beauty or elegance. This bulky stork, with a funereal air, has a fleshy inflatable sac under its throat which conspicuously wobbles as it probes African rubbish dumps for carrion. Seemingly more at home amongst the melee of vultures and jackals squabbling over a carcass, it is known in some areas as the undertaker bird. But, in the air the marabou stork is an elegant sight. It has one of the largest wingspans of any bird, up to 3 metres across. Soaring effortlessly on these broad wings the storks scan the sub-Saharan landscape for food. Marabou storks are doing well, thanks to our throwaway society and they've learned to connect people with rubbish 鈥� a salutary association one might say.
Producer : Andrew Dawes
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Marabou stork (Leptoptilos crumeniferus)
Webpage image courtesy of David Tipling / naturepl.com.
漏 David Tipling / naturepl.com
Broadcasts
- Thu 11 Dec 2014 05:58大象传媒 Radio 4
- Wed 28 Oct 2015 05:58大象传媒 Radio 4
- Thu 18 Jul 2019 05:58大象传媒 Radio 4
- Tue 20 Oct 2020 05:58大象传媒 Radio 4
- Tue 30 Aug 2022 05:58大象传媒 Radio 4
- Mon 14 Aug 2023 05:58大象传媒 Radio 4
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