The Saddle-billed Stork is a large African stork of wetlands. It catches fish and small animals in shallow water.
It is a tall wader with long legs and a large bill. Its black-and-white plumage contrasts with a bill marked in red, black and yellow.
It usually forages alone or in pairs in shallow water, taking fish, frogs and reptiles. Pairs are thought to remain together for life and share incubation and care of chicks in a tree nest.
It stands still or walks through shallow water to forage, sometimes stirring prey up with its feet.
Each pair builds its own stick platform in a tree near water. Females lay one to five eggs, usually two or three. Both sexes take turns incubating, for an estimated 30–35 days.
Parents regurgitate food into the nest and dribble water onto the chicks. Older chicks may take fish directly from a parent’s bill.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.