<trp-post-container data-trp-post-id='360689'>Maguari Stork

Open Bird Bucket List ↗

En bref

  • Scientific Name: Ciconia maguari
  • Spanish Name: Cigüeña maguari
  • Family: Ciconiidae
  • Known Nicknames: Maguari Stork, American Maguari, Saddle-billed Stork (local), Jabiru (local, misapplied)
  • Average Length: 97–120 cm / 38–47 in
  • Average Weight: 4.0–5.5 kg / 8.8–12.1 lb
  • Wingspan: 165–200 cm / 65–79 in
  • Key Feature: Long, straight, greyish bill with a slightly upturned tip; bare red skin around the eye and on the throat
  • Primary Diet: Carnivore (piscivore and insectivore)
  • Range: Central South America (eastern Colombia, Venezuela, the Guianas, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, northern Argentina)
  • Habitat: Freshwater wetlands, marshes, flooded grasslands, and shallow ponds
  • Social Structure: Solitary or in small loose groups; occasionally forms larger flocks during dry season
  • Nesting/Breeding: Large stick nest built in trees or on cliffs, often in colonies
  • Statut de conservation : Préoccupation mineure (LC)
  • Évolution démographique : En baisse

The Maguari Stork (*Ciconia maguari*) is a striking South American wader, often mistaken for a smaller, more colorful version of the White Stork. Standing up to 3.5 feet tall, it boasts a pristine white body contrasted sharply by jet-black flight feathers and a long, slightly decurved reddish-orange bill. A unique characteristic is its distinctively forked black tail, which gives it an elegant, aerodynamic silhouette in flight. Unlike many storks that are silent, the Maguari is notably vocal, producing a loud, rattling "bill-clattering" display for communication, and it possesses a specialized feature: a pinkish-red facial patch of bare skin around the eye that intensifies in color during breeding season, making it one of the most visually expressive members of the stork family.

Faits amusants

The Maguari Stork has a quirky habit of “sunbathing” with its wings spread wide, using ultraviolet light to kill parasites and preen its feathers. Unlike most storks, it doesn’t clatter its bill as a primary greeting—instead, it performs a dramatic head-throwing display, sometimes even balancing a stick on its beak during courtship. It’s also a master of thermoregulation: to cool down, it deliberately defecates on its own legs, a process called urohidrosis that evaporates heat. This species is the only New World stork that regularly nests in colonies, sometimes building massive stick platforms on floating vegetation or in trees over water.

Habitats et répartition

The Maguari Stork inhabits a range of freshwater wetlands, including marshes, flooded grasslands, shallow lakes, and the edges of rivers and lagoons. It prefers open, seasonally flooded savannas and agricultural areas like rice paddies, often avoiding dense forests. Its geographical range spans much of central and eastern South America, from eastern Colombia and Venezuela through the Guianas, across Brazil, and south into Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, and central Argentina.

Comportements & Reproduction

The Maguari Stork is generally solitary or found in small, loose groups, but it can gather in larger numbers at rich feeding sites. During the breeding season, which varies regionally, pairs form strong, monogamous bonds. Courtship involves mutual bill-clattering, head-throwing, and nest-building displays. They build large stick nests in trees or on man-made structures, often in isolated locations rather than dense colonies like other storks. A unique reproductive strategy is their ability to breed opportunistically in response to water levels; they may delay nesting during drought or attempt a second brood if seasonal floods provide abundant food. Both parents share incubation of the 2-4 eggs and feed the chicks regurgitated food, with fledging occurring after about two months.

Alimentation

The Maguari Stork is a generalist carnivore that primarily forages in shallow wetlands, flooded grasslands, and marshes, where it employs a slow, deliberate walking gait to stalk prey. Its diet consists largely of aquatic animals, including fish (such as catfish and cichlids), frogs, tadpoles, and aquatic insects, but it also readily consumes snakes, small rodents, mollusks, and crustaceans. An interesting fact about its feeding behavior is that it often uses a "foot-stirring" technique, vibrating one foot in the murky water to flush hidden prey into movement, making them easier to spot and capture. Unlike some storks that rely heavily on carrion, the Maguari Stork is an active hunter and has been observed following capybaras or cattle to catch insects disturbed by their movement.

Couleurs

The Maguari Stork has predominantly white body plumage, with black flight feathers and a black tail. Its bare face skin is reddish-orange, and its long, thick bill is a pale grayish-yellow with a slightly darker tip. The legs are a dull reddish-pink. It lacks the black wing tips of the White Stork, instead showing a broad black band across the rear of the wing in flight, and has no specialized camouflage adaptations, relying on its large size and open wetland habitat for survival.

Distribution Map

Places linked to this species. A sighting is never guaranteed.

Use the map filter to show only featured places.

Featured places