English              -               Maguari Stork

Portuguese      -               Maguari

Latin                  -               Ciconia maguari

The Maguari Stork is another large bird that I photographed in the Pantanal. Unfortunately the above photos are of the only Maguari Stork I saw in the Pantanal and it was quite along way away so I’ve had to crop the photos a bit. It seemed very wary of me though because even though I was quite along way away from it, it still kept walking away and eventually ducked and hid behind a bush. We came across the Maguari Stork as we were driving down the dirt road MS184 and I noticed a big white bird in a field. The bird in the back ground in photo No. 2 is a Buff-necked Ibis (future blog) which is also a big bird but it is dwarfed by the Maguari Stork.

* Large bird with a  Length of 102 cm, height of 85 cm, wingspan of up to 180 cm and weighs around 4.2 kgs.

* Like other Ciconiidae species, bill-clattering is more often heard than true calls. However, it can produce some mechanical like sounds. 

* The Maguari Stork is a South American species found from Venezuela to down to Argentina. East of the Andes.

* The Maguari Stork habitats freshwater wetland, swamps, flooded pastures, reed-beds and rice fields, savannah ponds, cultivated fields and grassy areas.   

* They feed mainly on aquatic life like insects, frogs, tadpoles, fish (eels), crustaceans, aquatic rodents and reptiles.

* The female lays 3-4 eggs which are incubated for 29 to 32 days. The nestlings fledge 60-72 days after hatching.

* The Maguari Stork is not currently under threat in spite of some declines in parts of its range in recent years. Agriculture expansion involving intensive use of pesticides, and direct exploitation (young birds are taken at nest for consumption) are important threats. But the species is still widespread and abundant especially in Argentina. Therefore the Maguari Stork is classified as a species ”of Least concern”.