Jabiru

The Jabiru is the tallest and largest flying bird found in the Americas, standing well over a meter tall with a massive, slightly upturned black bill. Its plumage is entirely white, contrasting sharply with a bald, black-skinned head and upper neck.

At the base of the neck is a distinctive band of bare red or pink skin that can inflate and change color with the bird's mood, particularly during courtship displays. This dramatic combination of size, coloration, and bare skin makes the Jabiru unmistakable throughout its range.

Key field marks

• Enormous size with entirely white body plumage
• Bald black head and neck
• Bright red or pink inflatable band at the base of the neck
• Massive, thick, slightly upturned black bill
• Long black legs

Similar species

The Wood Stork is much smaller with a grey, scaly (not fully black) bald head and lacks the red neck band. The American White Pelican has a feathered head and a flat orange bill and pouch rather than a bald head and thick black bill. No other American stork approaches the Jabiru's size.

Jabirus inhabit extensive freshwater wetlands, including seasonally flooded savannas, marshes, riverbanks, and lake margins, from southern Mexico through Central America to Argentina, with a stronghold in the wetlands of the Pantanal in Brazil.

The species is largely resident, though it may make local movements in response to seasonal flooding and drying of wetlands. It nests in the tallest available trees, often standing prominently above the surrounding canopy.

Jabirus forage by wading through shallow water, using their large bill to grab or grope for fish, amphibians, reptiles, and occasionally carrion or small mammals. They may forage alone, in pairs, or in loose aggregations at productive wetlands during the dry season when prey becomes concentrated.

Largely silent, they communicate mainly through loud bill-clattering displays, especially at the nest. Jabirus build enormous stick nests, often more than a meter across, high in isolated trees, and pairs frequently reuse and enlarge the same nest over multiple years. Both parents share incubation of typically 2-4 eggs and the feeding of chicks, which take several months to fledge.