Marabou Stork
Photo: Charles J. Sharp · CC BY-SA 4.0

Storks

Marabou Stork

Leptoptilos crumenifer

LCLeast Concern
Family
Storks (Ciconiidae)
Order
Ciconiiformes

Overview

The marabou stork (Leptoptilos crumenifer) is a large wading bird in the stork family Ciconiidae native to sub-Saharan Africa. It breeds in both wet and arid habitats, often near human habitation, especially landfill sites. It is sometimes called the "undertaker bird" due to its shape from behind: cloak-like wings and back, skinny white legs, and sometimes a large white mass of "hair". It has often been credited with the largest wingspan of any land bird, with an average of 2.6 metres (8.5 ft) and some recorded examples of up to 3.2 metres (10 ft).

Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Range and habitat

West-central sub-Saharan Africa.

Range description: AviList Global Avian Checklist.

Sources and further reading

Last updated September 29, 2026.