Saddle-billed stork

Description

The beak African saddle or mitteria Senegal ( Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis Shaw 1800 ) is a bird of the family of Storks The mitterias,or greater storks,are,if not the most robust,certainly the highest representatives of the family.They have a slender body,a relatively long and slender neck,a fairly large head and a very long beak,straight or at most slightly bent upwards in the upper jaw,and this upward inclination is accentuated in the lower;the feet have extraordinarily high tarsies but short fingers,the wings are long and yet roundish and the tail straight and of mediocre length.