A bird with the interesting name of a marabu refers toa family of stork and lives, as a rule, in South Asia, as well as in the south of the Sahara. In translation from the Arabic "marabu" - this is a "Muslim theologian". It should be noted that representatives of the Islamic religion consider this bird wise.
In length representatives of this species reach almostone and a half meter, young birds have, so to speak, a motley color - the lower part of the feathers is white, the upper one is black. The head is almost devoid of feathers, on the neck of adults there is something like a leathery bag. This throat sac has a connection with the nostrils, so it can be recruited by air and decay, while the marabu (bird) rests. The photo clearly demonstrates the bright, uncommon appearance of the creation.
Absence of plumage on the head and neck of a birdis due to the peculiarity of its nutrition. The fact that the marabou eat carrion, so nature prudently deprived them of such a cover, so that the feathers do not get dirty during meals. Like all representatives of the order of the stork, they have an expressive, thick beak, 30 cm long. With this "tool" the bird easily penetrates the animal's skin, and can also swallow whole bones. Also, the marabou can absorb rodents, some amphibians and insects.
Marabu are birds that are nesting large nests,fortified on the tops of trees. "Lodge" of these feathered individuals can reach a diameter of one meter. Birds carefully lined it with leaves and tree branches from the inside. Individuals of this species live in pairs, incubating eggs are taken in turn. As a rule, there are 2-3 eggs in the nest. The process of ripening of the chick lasts about a month, after which it appears in the light.
The main competitors of this type are griffins,However, without the help of the marabou in the cutting of the dead carcass, the latter can not be dispensed with. Only they easily cope with the autopsy of the dead animal, thanks to its sharp beak.
Their prey they look out, surging high inthe sky, sometimes they can climb to 4,500 meters from the ground. This seems surprising given the fact that the marabou is, to put it mildly, a heavy bird, but it provides such a grand flight by using upward air currents.
As already mentioned, these birds livein warm countries, where the climate is hot, but rather humid. Marabu are birds that settle in colonies. They settle their settlements, as a rule, next to the pastures of various artiodactyl animals, as well as near farms and dumps.
These birds are not assigned the most aesthetic role,but someone has to clean up the garbage, and, by the will of nature, they become such "sanitars". After all, thanks to these birds, various epidemics are prevented, the foci of which flare up here and there in these climatic conditions. These birds rarely leave their habitual residence, however, if they have to move in search of a place for a new "feeding", they do it together - a spectacle, it should be noted, is quite majestic and impressive.
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