So...perhaps you will find this a random, pointless blog, but I just found this animal amazing...
This huge bird is called a Marabou Stork. It is one of the largest flying birds with an average wingspan of 2.87 m. The stork feeds on small rodents, reptiles, insects, baby crocodiles and flamingoes, but their main diet in cities like Kampala is various parts of trash heaps, like the one pictured above (standing just a few feet away from me). According to one of our Ugandan interns at our study abroad program, these birds do not have any predator because their bodies are so acidic and therefore other animals cannot handle eating them. Since the birds are not eaten they simply rot when they are injured or old. I was told that their rotting bodies do not produce any foul smell and will erode the grass (8-10 inches) around their rotting bodies.
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