Undertaker Bird Skull Replica or Marabou Stork Skull Replica measures 14.1 inches. Marabou Stork Skull Replica is museum quality polyurethane cast. 2-part skull (separate cranium & jaw). Made in USA. Cast from California Academy of Sciences specimen.
The Marabou stork (Leptoptilos crumenifer) is a large wading bird in the stork family Ciconiidae native to sub-Saharan Africa.
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”.
The Marabou stork is a massive bird: large specimens are thought to reach a height of 4.99 feet and a weight of 20 lb.
A wingspan of 12 ft. was accepted by Fisher and Peterson, who ranked the species as having the largest wing-spread of any living bird.
The Undertaker Bird or Marabou stork is unmistakable due to its size, bare head and neck, black back, and white underparts. It has a huge bill, a pink gular sac at its throat, a neck ruff, white legs and black wings.
The Marabou stork is a frequent scavenger, and the naked head and long neck are adaptations to this livelihood, as it is with the vultures with which the stork often feeds.
This large and powerful bird eats mainly carrion, scraps, and faeces but will opportunistically eat almost any animal matter it can swallow.
It occasionally eats other birds including Quelea nestlings, pigeons, doves, pelican and cormorant chicks, and even flamingos.
During the breeding season, adults scale back on carrion and take mostly small, live prey since nestlings need this kind of food to survive.
Common prey at this time may consist of fish, frogs, insects, eggs, small mammals and reptiles such as crocodile hatchlings and eggs, lizards and snakes.
Though known to eat putrid and seemingly inedible foods, these storks may sometimes wash food in water to remove soil.
Undertaker Bird or Marabou stork breeds in both wet and arid habitats, often near human habitation, especially landfill sites.
Like most storks, the Marabou is gregarious and a colonial breeder. In the African dry season (when food is more readily available as the pools shrink), it builds a tree nest in which two or three eggs are laid.
Eggs hatch after an incubation period of 30 days. Their young reach sexual maturity at 4 years of age.
Lifespan is 43 years in captivity and 25 years in wild. It is known to be quite ill-tempered.
It also resembles other storks in that it is not very vocal, but indulges in bill-rattling courtship displays. The throat sac is also used to make various noises at that time.
