Abdim's Stork

Abdim's Stork
Abdim's Stork
At London Zoo, England
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Ciconiiformes
Family: Ciconiidae
Genus: Ciconia
Species: C. abdimii
Binomial name
Ciconia abdimii
Lichtenstein, 1823

The Abdim's Stork, (Ciconia abdimii) also known as White-bellied Stork, is a black stork with grey legs, red knees and feet, grey bill and white underparts. It has red facial skin in front of eye and blue skin near the bill in breeding season. It is the smallest species of stork (but still a large bird), at 73 cm (29 in) and a weight of just over 1 kg (2.2 lbs). The female lays two to three eggs and is slightly smaller than male.

The Abdim's Stork is distributed to open habitats throughout Eastern Africa, from Ethiopia south to South Africa. Its diet consists mainly of locusts, caterpillars and other large insects, although the birds will also eat small reptiles, amphibians, mice, crabs and eggs.[1]

Among the smallest storks, this species is welcomed and protected by local African belief as a harbinger of rain and good luck. The name commemorates the Turkish Governor of Wadi Halfa in Sudan Bey El-Arnaut Abdim (1780–1827).[1]

Widespread and common throughout its large range, the Abdim's Stork is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is the subject of a nationally-coordinated breeding program in the United States; the Population Management Plan for this species is administered by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

References

  1. ^ a b "Abdim's Stork Fact Sheet, Lincoln Park Zoo"
  • BirdLife International (2008). Ciconia abdimii. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 3 February 2009. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern

External links


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