Sadle-billed Stork

The Saddle-Billed Stork is a large bird which has black and white plumage (fairly “ traditional ”) but above all a remarkable beak : large, long, slightly bent upwards and very colourful : red, with a broad black band and, on the upper part, a yellow carbuncle (a dermal excrescence, like the crest of a cock). The colours of the Belgian flag…

The male has dark eyes and the female yellow ones which is the only difference between the two sexes. Always living close to water, in the wetlands or semi-arid areas with points of water, the Saddle-Billed Stork is carnivorous but has a varied diet, with a preference for fish ; it can swallow even very large specimen, weighing half a kilo, as a whole !

It is a bird that is fairly widespread over a vast geographical area between the Sahel and South Africa, and it is not threatened.