Marabous belong to the stork family and are often seen in the equatorial regions of Asia. They are also known as ‘adjutant birds’ because of the way they stand to attention like soldiers.
These birds are not very fussy about what they eat and enjoy almost any kind of refuse. For this reason they crowd together in villages and do the useful job of clearing the streets of any rubbish that is lying around. Marabous will also eat the rotting bodies of dead animals, often quarrelling with other carrion birds such as vultures and fighting over pieces of stinking, rotten meat.
With such eating habits the marabou cannot be described as an attractive bird. It has an enormous beak about 40 centimetres long; a tiny head with no feathers on it; and a long, curved neck, also bare and covered with a very, rough skin, which is usually kept tucked between its shoulders. The front of the neck contains a loose pouch which the bird keeps stuffed with food. Marabous are up to one and a half metres tall when they stand up straight on their long legs.
Picture Credit : Google
