They are not the world’s prettiest birds, as befits their role as a scavenger, but they are magnificent flyers. They have the largest wingspan of any land bird (up to 3.2m) and I often have the opportunity to marvel at their thermalling skills.
The local refuse tip is on the route to my work and I often spot them standing, sentinel-like, on the rubbish. Sometimes they are soaring, effortlessly and majestic, over the road in a stack of a dozen or more. There is water in a dam (small reservoir) on the neighbouring ART Farm where we walk our dogs and I occasionally see them congregated there, no doubt slaking their thirst after a good bit of scavenging on the refuse tip.
We came across the unfortunate bird above on this morning’s dog walk on ART Farm. He/she was very newly dead, the eyes still clear, with no clue as to the cause of death. There is a high voltage power line close by which may have been the culprit – we didn’t look closely. It’s the first marabou I have seen up close and I had to admire the perfect sculpturing of the wings – designed to soar. We’ll be walking in the area again soon but we are not expecting to see much left as there is a jackal or two that lives in the nearby wetland and it will undoubtedly do a bit of scavenging itself.
Zimbabwe Absurdity 