Abdim's Stork ( Ciconia abdimii, family: Ciconiidae)

Abdim's stock kruger national park birds The Abdim's Stork (Latin name Ciconia abdimii) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 85 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 621 also a picture of the Abdim's Stork on page 593. The Abdim's Stork belongs to the family of birds classified as Ciconiidae. According to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology the Abdim's Stork is also known by these other names: White-bellied Stork.

The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps

The Abdim's Stork is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park. It is however a common summer visitor

In terms of distribution of the Abdim's Stork in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Abdim's Stork : see above distribution map.

Juvenile kruger Park Abdim's StorkIdentification assistance for this avian species ...

One of the first indicators to take note of when trying to identify a bird is it relative size. For example how big is the bird compared to a well known familiar bird. The Abdim's Stork is a large bird much bigger than a Pied Crow. The height of the Abdim's Stork is about 81 cms and its weight is about 1500 gms

The male and female Abdim's Stork have the same plumage and colours

  • Head is black.
  • Eye is brown.
  • Bill is black.
  • Throat is purple, black.
  • Back is black, purple.
  • Legs are grey.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Abdim's Stork feeds on the ground mainly

Reptiles

Invertebrates

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The Abdim's Stork takes on more than a single mate (it is bigamous).

The nesting habit of Abdim's Stork is extra limital

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Abdim's Stork are: woodlands and grasslands . The Abdim's Stork is also at home in wetland and riverine areas.

You will normally see the Abdim's Stork in flocks.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Unknown

Zulu ... Unknown

Afrikaans ...Kleinswartooievaar

German ... Abdimsstorch, Regenstorch

Portuguese ... Cegonha de Abdim

French ... Cigogne d'Abdim

Dutch ... Abdimooievaar

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For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...

Robert's 7th edition number ... 85

The main reference source for this data was "Roberts - Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition" . Other references were "Newmans Birds of the Kruger Park" by Keith Newman published circa 1980 . Names in foreign languages were obtained from the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town website , www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za