The Abdim's stork (Ciconia abdimii) also known as white-bellied stork, is named after Governor Bey El-Arnaut Abdim (1780–1827) who was a Turkish governor of Wadi Haifa in Sudan from 1821 to 1827. It is a long-limbed bird with black feathers accented by white portions under the wings. It has red facial skin in front of eye and blue skin near the bill in breeding season. Among the smallest of the storks, these birds still stand nearly three feet tall. Females are slightly smaller than males. Abdim's storks congregate in large flocks of up to 10,000 birds in open habitats throughout Eastern Africa, from Ethiopia south to South Africa. They eat locusts and caterpillars, in addition to small reptiles and amphibians, mice, crabs and eggs.
