The Marabou Stork in Kruger National Park

<p><strong>The Marabou Stork (<em>Leptoptilos crumenifer</em>) is among the largest flying birds in the world and one of the most maligned in popular safari culture.</strong> 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.</p>