The Marabou Stork in Kruger National Park

The Marabou Stork (Leptoptilos crumenifer) is among the largest flying birds in the world and one of the most maligned in popular safari culture. The bare bald head, the hunched silhouette, and the carrion-feeding habit make it the bird people most readily call ugly. It is also one of the most ecologically essential scavengers in the African ecosystem.