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This article is about the Jabiru bird. For the Jabiru plane, see Jabiru Aircraft Jabiru. For the Jabiru (or Jaguar) rocket see Jaguar (rocket).
The Jabiru (Jabiru mycteria) is a large stork found in the Americas from Mexico to Argentina, except west of the Andes. It is the only member of the genus Jabiru (Hellmayr, 1906).
The adult Jabiru may be 1.15 m tall, with a 2.60 m wingspan. The beak, up to 30 cm long, is black and broad, slightly upturned, ending in a sharp point. The plumage is mostly white, but the head and upper neck are black, with a red stretchable pouch at the base. While it is an ungainly bird on the ground, the Jabiru is a powerful and gracious flier.
The Jabiru lives in large groups near rivers and ponds, and eats prodigious quantities of fish, mollusks, and amphibians. It will occasionally eat reptiles and small mammals, and even fresh carrion. The nest of twigs is built around August–September (in the southern hemisphere) on tall trees, and enlarged at each succeeding season. The parents take turns incubating the clutch of 2 to 4 eggs.
The two Ephippiorhynchus storks, the African Saddle-billed Stork and the Asian Black-necked Stork were formerly sometimes called Jabiru.
External links
- Jabiru micteria (http://www.mangoverde.com/birdsound/picpages/pic22-16-1.html) at the Belize Zoo.
- Jabiru at eNature (http://www.enature.com/fieldguide/showSpeciesFT.asp?fotogID=568&curPageNum=10&recnum=BD0613).
- Jaburú at Saúde Animal (http://www.saudeanimal.com.br/jaburu.htm) (in Portuguese)
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