Australian Birds: Part 2

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Australia has just ONE stork, or so I’ve heard. The Jabiru is a bird of the wetlands of the steamy north and east coasts of Australia. It’s also called the black-necked stork and it is different from the South American jabiru. The Australian jabiru is slim, about four feet long and very colorful. While stalking in the shallows of the wetlands it is unmistakable among the many other birds. It will lunge its long powerful beak into the water so forcefully that it has to jerk its wings partially open to counteract the force. Its wings are strong, about six feet from tip to tip, with its primary feathers spread like fingers. The jabiru can fly and it has become the cherished symbol of the Australian wetlands when it is silhouetted against the huge red ball of the setting sun. Have you ever seen a Jabiru up close?