A Startled Stork Story

The Saddlebilled Stork  is the largest African stork at about 1.5 meters (5 feet) tall, and is unmistakable, with a red and black striped bill and a yellow shield or ‘saddle’ at the base of the upper bill.  The male and female are similar except for the eye color – this one is female because she has a yellow eye, and no wattle:

This one is male, because he has dark brown eyes and a tiny yellow wattle, and he is about 10% larger than the female. His wingspan can be up to nine feet.

It is the breeding season, and both sexes have a prominent brood patch of bare skin on their chests to allow closer bodily contact with the eggs, for better heat transfer.

They are found alone, or in pairs, like these two, and they like to hunt in the floodplains for fish, frogs, small mammals and reptiles. This male stayed for a long time in one spot, stabbing at something invisible in the grass that he seemed to be rather wary of. The guide thought it might have been a monitor lizard, getting too close to their nest.

Whatever it was, at one point it gave him a serious scare, and he leapt backwards, rather inelegantly.

Odd fact about storks: they have no syrinx, so the young can only hiss, and the adults are completely mute.

PS: As befits the largest stork, it also has perhaps the longest scientific name: Ephippiorynchus senegalensis. Ephippio comes from the Greek for ‘saddle’, or literally ‘on the horse’, and rynchus means ‘bill’.

PPS: This stork’s great height means he and I would pretty much see eye-to-eye.