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The Marabou Stork Leptoptilos crumenifer is a large wading bird that occurs extensively throughout sub-Saharan Africa in savanna and wetland habitats. Despite its widespread occurrence in southern Africa, the number of known breeding localities and the numbers of nests are limited. We report on large, dispersed nesting colonies in the greater Gorongosa landscape in central Mozambique. We counted the number of active Marabou nests in Gorongosa National Park and adjoining areas by conducting annual aerial (helicopter) surveys between 2016 and 2019. The Muaredzi colony within Gorongosa National Park has been expanding annually from 82 active nests in 2016 up to 258 nests in 2019. Similarly, the Mussicadzi colony has increased from five nests in 2016 to 81 nests in 2019. A total of 373 active nests were recorded in 2019 in Gorongosa National Park. Since 2017, a small number of additional nests were also observed in the Coutada 11 and Coutada 12 hunting areas, adjacent to Gorongosa. The total count for the greater Gorongosa landscape was 380 active nests in 2019. This represents the first formal record of what appears to be the single largest breeding assembly of Marabou Storks south of the Zambezi and Cunene Rivers. The observation of a significant number of active Marabou nests in the greater Gorongosa landscape has important conservation implications. French Title: Le Marabout d’Afrique Leptoptilos crumenifer se reproduisent dans le grand paysage de Gorongosa, Mozambique Le Marabout d’Afrique Leptoptilos crumenifer est un grand echassier qui se trouve partout en Afrique subsaharienne dans des habitats de savane et de zones humides. Malgre sa presence etendue en Afrique australe, le nombre de localites de reproduction connues et le nombre de nids sont limites. Nous faisons etat de grandes colonies de nidification dispersees dans le grand paysage de Gorongosa, au centre du Mozambique. Nous avons recense le nombre de nids de Marabouts actifs dans le parc national de Gorongosa et les zones adjacentes en effectuant des releves aeriens annuels (par helicoptere) entre 2016 et 2019. La colonie de Muaredzi dans le parc national de Gorongosa s’est developpee chaque annee, passant de 82 nids actifs en 2016 a 258 nids en 2019. De meme, la colonie de Mussicadzi est passee de 5 nids en 2016 a 81 nids en 2019. Un total de 373 nids actifs a ete enregistre en 2019 dans le parc national de Gorongosa. Depuis 2017, un petit nombre de nids supplementaires a egalement ete observe dans les zones de chasse Coutada 11 et Coutada 12, adjacentes a Gorongosa. Le nombre total de nids actifs dans le grand paysage de Gorongosa etait de 380 en 2019. Il s›agit du premier enregistrement officiel de ce qui semble etre le plus grand rassemblement de Cigognes Marabouts nicheuses au sud des rivieres Zambeze et Cunene. L›observation d›un nombre important de nids de Marabouts actifs dans le grand paysage de Gorongosa a des implications importantes pour la conservation de la nature. Keywords: breeding colony, conservation importance. scavenger, Southern Africa

The Saddle-billed Stork Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis exemplifies a case in conservation research in which a species is assessed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List and the resulting consideratio...

The nesting success of Marabou Storks Leptoptilos crumeniferus breeding in north-eastern Swaziland is closely associated with rainfall, with nests started late in the season exposed to higher rainfall and showing lower success. This may be related to lower food intake and slower growth of the chicks. This study set out to determine whether hatching date and sequence of laying affected the growth rate of chicks. Chicks were also sexed, as Marabou Storks show sexual size dimorphism—males are on average 20% larger—and this trait is often associated with differing patterns of growth between sexes. Nestlings were measured weekly from hatching until they either died or fledged. Nestling development is described in detail and photographs of differentaged chicks are presented. The nestling period was significantly shorter for female chicks, at 94 d, than for male chicks at 104 d. Male and female chicks differed in growth rate and asymptote for both mass and wing length. Unusually, females showed higher instantaneous growth rates for much of the nestling period. Chicks surpassed adult mass before fledging. Date of hatching had an effect on growth rates, with chicks at late nests having slower growth, consistent with a decline in food availability. Marabou Storks appear to be slower growing than expected for the Ciconiidae, the taxonomic family to which they belong. OSTRICH 2010, 81(2): 85–91

Abdim's Stork is a common breeding bird in most human settlements across the Sahel. However, very few studies have surveyed the population and described its breeding and feeding ecology during the breeding season. We identified the breeding range in Niger, surveyed nests in 23 villages/towns and, based on the number of villages and towns in the breeding area, estimate the total breeding population for Niger at 18 157 pairs (95% CL ± 9 160). Breeding success was 2.6 fledglings per successful pair (95% CL ± 0.28, range 1–4, n = 36), suggesting a total post-fledging population of c. 83 500 birds (95% CL ± 51 267), excluding any non-breeding (sub)adults. The home range of six satellite-tagged breeders in 2003 was 10–120 km 2 (median 36 km 2 ); birds adjacent to a major river rarely used that wet habitat. Home ranges were consistently larger, though not significantly so, in the post-fledging period than in the nestling season. The tagged adults stayed in their nesting areas until 16–59 d after the young fledged. After leaving the nesting area, most of the tagged birds moved to one or more staging areas within 300 km of the nest site and stayed there for an additional 8–33 d before the onset of migration. The following season (2004), four out of five tagged storks returned to the previous years' nest (one lost its nest), and started incubation 10–25 d after arrival. Onset of incubation (mean 29 May) varied from 4 May to 4 July (earliest in the east along the River Niger) but with large local variation, with the earliest breeders starting shortly after the first rain in each area. Ostrich 2008, 79(2): 177–185

Miller, E.R., Tab Rasmussen, D. & Simons, E.L. 1997. Fossil Storks (Ciconiidae) from the Late Eocene and Early Miocene of Egypt. Ostrich 68 (1): 23–26. Two fossil stork tibiotarsii from Egypt, one a late Eocene ciconiid from the Fayum Province, and the other a lower Miocene specimen of Leptoptilos sp. from Wadi Moghara, are described and discussed. The late Eocene ciconiid specimen marks the first appearance of a stork in the African fossil record and may also represent the earliest fossil stork known anywhere. The lower Miocene specimen of Leptoptilos is one of the earliest records of a modern-type stork in Africa, and the first occurrence of a modern stork in North Africa. The addition of these two specimens, together with other ciconiid material from younger Miocene sites in Tunisia, gives North Africa the most complete record of fossil storks. The presence of these specimens in North Africa is consistent with paleoenvironmental reconstructions of northern Egypt during the Eocene to Miocene as an area ...

Adjakpa, J.B. 2000. The breeding biology of Abdim's Stork Ciconia abdimii in the far north of Benin. Ostrich 71 (1 & 2): 61–63. Little is known about the biology of Abdim's Stork Ciconia abdimii, in Benin. I studied the nesting of this intra- African migrant in the wet season of 1996. Breeding pairs arrived at the end of March 1996. Seven nest sites were found, involving 92 pairs; the largest colony was of 51 pairs. The storks used five different large tree species for nesting. Egg-laying began in early April and lasted until 2 July. Most clutches were of 3–4 eggs. Incubation lasted 28–29 days. A total of 196 young storks fledged (all of which were ringed), representing a success rate of 76.5% per egg laid and 86.0% per egg hatched. The last storks left the colonies on 9 September 1996, 164 days after the first ones arrived on 30 March. The species is threatened in Benin by human persecution and by widespread pesticide use: it urgently requires official protected status.

Motalaotte, S. & Bouwman, H. 2000. Pesticide levels in stork and spoonbill eggs from the Okavango Delta, Botswana. Ostrich 71 (1&2):344. Ecotourism in the Okavango Delta is one of the major sources of foreign revenue for the Republic of Botswana. Promoting this region is therefore vital to sustainable development. One of the concerns was the past use of organochlorine pesticides to combat tsetse fly. This study looked at the levels and possible risk this use poses to Marabou storks and African Spoonbills, as well as some other birds, from this region. One particular breeding colony also experienced a decline in breeding success, the cause of which is unknown. DDE was present in almost all the eggs and blood sampled, while DDD, DDT and Dieldrin were also found in many. These pesticides are therefore present in the food chain and should be closely monitored to determine any temporal trends.

Summary Scott, J. A. 1975. Observations on the breeding of the Woollynecked Stork. Ostrich 46: 201–207. Little is known about the breeding of the Woollynecked Stork Ciconia episcopus in Africa. This paper discusses breeding, adult and nestling behaviour, nests and sites. Seasonal movements are discussed briefly. Eight nests were studied during 1970 to 1974. At one nest incubation was established at 30 to 31 days and the fledging period 55 to 65 days. No feeding of the young was observed at any time, though one eight hour observation period was undertaken. Few mating displays were seen and none away from the nest.

Summary Harrison, C. J. O. 1980. Fossil birds from Afrotropical Africa in the collection of the British Museum (Natural History). Ostrich 51:92-98. Although it has a rich avifauna, few fossil birds are know from Africa south of the Sahara. In the present paper 22 species are identified from three Miocene and two Pleistocene localities, 20 being additions to the existing list. A new touraco Apopempsis africanus sp. nov. is described from the Lower Miocene of Songhor, Kenya; and from the same period on Rusinga Island, Kenya, a new stork Ciconia minor sp. nov., in addition to a small flamingo, a hawk and a francol-in. There is evidence of a bustard and a Ciconia stork from the Middle Miocene of Maboko Island, Kenya. In the Pleistocene nine species are listed for Olduvai, Tanzania, and seven for Broken Hill, Zambia. There is some evidence of a shared Afro-tropicai/Palaearctic fuana in the Miocene, and of a larger inland lake bird fauna in the Early Pleistocene of Olduvai, but the Broken Hill material is purel...

Summary Tarboton, Warwick. 1982. Breeding status of the Black Stork in the Transvaal. Ostrich 53:151-156. Black Storks were censused in the Transvaal during 1976–81 at 40 breeding sites of which 38 were occupied during at least one of the survey years. The Transvaal Black Stork population was estimated to be 50–70 breeding pairs. The storks bred in winter on cliffs in the hilly parts of the Transvaal, laid 2–5 eggs ([xbar] = 3,37; n = 19) and reared 1–4 young ([xbar] = 2,27; n = 22). Productivity was 2,24 young/clutch laid (n = 37) or 1,38 young/pair-year (n = 60). Pairs failed to breed, on average, in 38% of the years, usually in years of below-average rainfall. In severe drought years as few as a quarter of the known pairs attempted to breed. Coincidentally, in drought years Black Stork numbers increased greatly in the eastern Lowveld (Kruger National Park) where permanent feeding habitat exists but breeding sites are scarce, and it is suggested that this area, and possibly the Limpopo River, provide im...

(1967). THE DISTRIBUTION AND STATUS OF THE BLACK STORK IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. Ostrich: Vol. 38, No. 3, pp. 179-185.