Birds and Birding's Guide to:

Watching THE STORK-LIKE BIRDS

THE STORKS (Family Ciconiidd)

Abdim's Stork

Among the true Storks also we may mention Abdim's, or the White-bellied Stork (Abdimia abdimii), a native of tropical Africa and extending thence into Arabia and Spain. In general appearance it is quite similar to the Black Stork, although smaller and with shorter legs, and possessing, moreover, a number of anatomical differences. The general color is black above, slightly glossed with steel-green and purple, the bend of the wing, the back, rump, and upper tail-coverts being white; the head, neck, and fore neck metallic green and purple, while the remainder of the under surface from the fore neck downward is white.

The bill is horny green with a crimson tip, while the naked space around the ears, a spot in front of the eyes, nostrils, and throat are crimson; the legs are olive-green, and the feet and knees crimson. This species is exceedingly abundant in many parts of Africa, frequenting the vicinity of the villages during the breeding season, where it is venerated and protected much as is the White Stork in Europe. Andersson says: ''This somewhat coarse but handsome Stork arrives in Damara Land during the rainy season, leaving it again on the approach of the dry.

The more plentiful the rain, the more abundant the birds, the cause being simply the great abundance of food. This species feeds largely on locusts, but devours with equal gusto beetles of all kinds, many hundreds of which I have taken from the stomach of a single bird; it also devours small reptiles, water-rats, fish, and frogs, but appears to prefer locusts when these are to be had, chasing them over the ground as well as in the air.”

These birds usually nest in communities, placing the nests in trees, sometimes to the number of twenty or thirty in a single tree. The eggs arc three or four, and small for the size of the bird.

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