Birds · Ciconiiformes · Ciconiidae

Jabiru

Jabiru mycteria

Least Concern

The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary

The jabiru, tuyuyú or American jabiru is a species of ciconiiform bird of the family Ciconiidae; it is the largest stork in the New World. At 120-140 cm tall and with a wingspan of 3 metres, it is an unmistakable bird of the American wetlands from Yucatán, through Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Guyana, Suriname, Peru, Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay as far as the Argentine pampas, and is abundant in places such as the Venezuelan llanos, the Pantanal and the Iberá. The name of this bird comes from the Guaraní language.

Weight

4.3 kg – 9 kg

Size

1.2 m – 1.4 m

Lifespan

36 years

Diet

Carnivore

Feeds mainly on other animals.

Activity

Diurnal

Active mainly during the day.

Social structure

In pairs

Usually lives in pairs, sometimes for life.

Sighting difficulty

Easy

SavannaFreshwaterCarnivore Diurnal In pairs Bird Savanna Freshwater

16countries 15parks6same family

Fun facts

anatomíaIt is one of the largest flying birds in the Americas and builds huge nests that it reuses and enlarges year after year over several breeding seasons.
It is the tallest flying bird in the Americas: it stands more than a metre and a half tall and spans more than three metres.
It fishes blind and by touch: it puts its half-open bill into the murky water and snaps it shut by reflex within milliseconds on contact with a fish, without needing to see it.
Its nest is an enormous platform that the pair enlarges year after year until it is more than a metre thick, and other species often nest beneath it to take advantage of the protection.

Life cycle & biology

Skeleton type: Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)
Habitat & environment: Wetlands, marshes, floodplains and flooded savannah of tropical America
Sexual maturity: 4 years
Gestation / incubation: 32 days of incubation
Litter / clutch size: 3 eggs

Sources consulted: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jabiru_mycteria