The BLACK-NECKED STORK (JABIRU) – listed as “Near Threatened” Posted on 13 Feb 23:51
Written by: Tzar the Paddington Poodle.
Eden and Biru, Black-necked storks, feature in my book “The Adventures of Tzar the Paddington Poodle, Brahman Bull Encounter” due for release June 2017 and proudly explain to the Tzar when he takes a dip in a fresh water billabong in the Northern Territory, that Black-necked storks are in fact not Jabiru’s though in Australia, they are called. Jabiru’s are in fact refer to a stork species found in the Americas. It is one of the few storks that is strongly territorial when feeding.
These elegant birds, are a large bird, 129–150 cm (51–59 in) tall having a 230-centimetre (91 in) wingspan. The average weight is around 4,100 grams (145 oz).The plumage patterns are conspicuous with younger birds differing from adults. Adults have a glossy bluish-black iridescent head, neck, secondary flight feathers and tail; a coppery-brown crown; a bright white back and belly; bill black with a slightly concave upper edge; and bright red legs. The sexes are identical but the adult female has a yellow iris while the adult male has it brown.
Conservation Status of the Black-necked stork (Jabiru):
- They are threatened by habitat destruction, the draining of shallow wetlands, overfishing, pollution, collision with electricity wires and hunting.
- It is evaluated as near threatened on the IUCN Red List.
Here are a few facts about these cute but rarely seen creatures:
- The Black-necked Stork is the only species of stork that occurs in Australia.
- In northern Australia, the species is traditionally called the Jabiru, but this is not an Indigenous name, as is often supposed, but is a Brazilian name which refers to a totally different species of stork which occurs in South and Central America.
- Lives in shallows of wetlands including billabongs, swamps, floodwaters, wet heathlands, watercourse pools, dams and adjacent savannah woodlands. Prefers fresh water but sometimes found on inter-tidal shores such as margins of mangrove, mudflats and estuaries.
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Chordata
- Class: Aves
- Order: Ciconiiformes
- Family: Ciconiidae
- Genus: Ephippiorhynchus
- Species: E. asiaticus