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  Profile

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  In flight

Cranes & Waders

Jabiru

Jabiru mycteria

• common
• 56 km/h
• Starter
• Least Concern

Tallest flying bird in the Americas. Your message arrives with literal gravitas.

Population

20,000–85,000 mature individuals (Wetlands International 2019 estimate; data quality flagged as poor/imprecise by IUCN/BirdLife)

Habitat

Seasonally wet/flooded tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, marshes, and freshwater wetlands, especially near rivers, ponds, and lagoons up to ~700 m elevation (e.g., the Pantanal of Brazil and the Chaco of Paraguay)

Fun fact

The Jabiru is the tallest flying bird in South and Central America (up to ~1.4 m tall) and has the second-largest wingspan on the continent after the Andean condor; it also shows extreme sexual dimorphism, with males roughly 25% larger than females.

Range

Central and South America across 23 countries/territories, from Mexico through Central America and the Amazon basin to northern Argentina (absent west of the Andes), with occasional vagrants into the southern United States (Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma); non-migratory resident

Diet

Carnivorous generalist: fish, amphibians (especially frogs), reptiles (snakes), mollusks/snails, insects and other invertebrates, occasionally small mammals and carrion; forages largely by tactile sensation rather than sight

Size

1.3 m

Wingspan

2.55 m

Lifespan

36 years