The Ciconiidae

Amazing! I didn't knew that Greater Adjutant were so massive compared with marabou!

@Kakapo I agree. I've never seen a Greater Adjutant, but from the pictures I assumed it was much smaller. Same with Jabiru as well.

@Kakapo I've seen them both in a museum collection and was shocked as well. Marabou tend to have shorter legs in proportion to their body size. I was actually able to measure all 19 species several years ago at the Smithsonian and the Greater Adjutants were so big that only two study skins could fit in a drawer with their legs folded up and their necks scrunched up compared to the Marabou in which a skin could fit lengthwise in a drawer with its head and legs extended. I was also shocked at its bill structure. Its much more massive and wide than the Marabou. The adult specimen's head from back of head to bill tip in a straight line was 16 inches with a leg length of 22 inches to where the feathers start. I read something a while back that the extinct Leptoptilos robustus was about the same size. Its just that its legs were more heavy which rendered it flightless. Marabou are technically tall if they stretched their necks the whole way but due their heavy bill they have that hunched posture and usually stand at about 3.5 feet in a hunched position. Jabiru, like Greater Adjutant have a really long tarsus which make them appear taller. I extended the Greater Adjutant's neck in Photoshop to make it taller. @birdsandbats @TeaLovingDave

Storm's Stork and Abdim's Stork seem too small...

@TeaLovingDave Well....I like the African species better.

@TeaLovingDave I saw the ones in London but I like the African's head look better.