Ugly Marabou facts

Besides posing in haggard posture, having a pink wrinkled sac and that bald head, Marabou storks naturally have many more ugly characteristics.

The worst  being how they cool down on a hot day by showering themselves with their waste.

This followed by sucking a deep sigh of relief, panting and spreading their long wings.

"Worse still these grey birds spend most of their lifetime doing nothing. I have seen them on trees along Parliament Avenue watching pedestrians or scaling heaps of stinking garbage.

 Marabou stork with a broken wing in cow dung .(Photo by Titus Kakembo)

In their free time they stand, motionless, on their long legs and stare at nothing," observes Uganda Wildlife Education Center (UWEC) Scovia Musiimenta.

"When you see them taking a lazy flight, their legs too lifelessly stretch backwards."

Adding that, these birds that are hard to differentiate between male and female breed strictly in the dry season when the water levels are low.

This is when they access the fish and bird delicacies that boost their libidos. Unfortunately much as the female lays 2-3 eggs, it is only one that matures to a ripe old age of 25 years.

"When it comes to their mating season," adds Musiimenta. "They gather in groups of  20 or more. And each sticks to a single partner for life.  Being gender balanced, when it comes to hatching, the couples do it in turns."

In Uganda Marabou Storks have been forced to migrate from their natural swampy habitats where they feed on a diet of fish, frogs and small mammals. The urbanised ones have switched to scavenging on remains of rolex, pork ribs and emolokony (cow hooves).

As if in protest, they simply clatter their bills, croak loudly and gurgle the food stashed in the pinkish pouch.

"Until they are threatened, is when you will see or hear them whining, mooing or hiccupping," says the president Uganda Bird Guides Association Herbert Byaruhanga. "Drama unfolds when a bush catches fire. Tactfully they waylay fleeing reptiles and mammals for a feast. This is when they can dine on five kilograms of meat as a snack. They treasure fish and frogs. "

These birds live silently for as long as 45 years while in captivity. In Karamoja where hats and head gears are fashion statements, their feathers are used for either decoration, fly whisks or dance costumes.