Jabiru mycteria

(Lichtenstein, 1819)

Vernacular names
English : Jabiru
French : Jabiru d’Amérique

Classification
Class : Aves
Order : Pelecaniformes
Family : Ciconiidae
Notes : No subspecies known

Identification
Adults can reach a size of 140 cm for a weight of 8.1 kg, females being lighter. Unmistakable. Very large black bill, dark eyes. Head and neck bare with black skin except from bright red lower neck. Black legs, plumage all white.

Range and habitat
The species occurs patchily in Central America, from south Mexico to Panama and in South America to north-central Argentina. Lives in freshwater marshes, savannas with lakes and rivers with tall trees nearby.

Conservation
IUCN RED LIST : LEAST CONCERN
CITES : Not Listed
Status : The species is still common and safe in South-America but alarmingly declining in most of Central America because of habitat loss.
Ex-Situ Programs : None known

Observation
Dallas World Aquarium (USA), Vogelpark Niendorf (Germany)

 

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