What is a Jabiru?
The Jabiru or Black- necked Stork is Australia’s largest wading bird and our only stork. It stands 1.3m -1.5 m in height and its wingspan is a massive 2.3m from tip to tip. The head colour is an amazing glossy, shimmery, black with blue, green and purple. They have very long bright red legs and a straight black bill which is used to scoop and probe in the water for their food. Food consists of small invertebrates found in swamps and wetlands. Frogs, tadpoles, fish, eels and wetland plants are therefore its main food source. Males and females have only one defining difference. The female has yellow eyes. We have also observed, that often the male may be larger in size and can have a bigger head. Young adults/juvenies can be distinguished from the adult birds by a greyish plumage on their chests. As the Jabiru does not have a voice box, chattering by bill clapping is their means of communication. This very impressive black and white bird is listed as endangered, not only in Aussie, but w
