A wingspan of 3.7 m (12 ft) was accepted by Fisher and Peterson, who ranked the species as having the largest wing-spread of any living bird. The marabou stork is a massive bird: large specimens are thought to reach a height of 152 centimetres (4.99 feet) and a weight of 9 kg (20 lb). When the species was moved into the genus Leptoptilos, the ending was modified to crumeniferus and this was used by many authors until it was noted that the correct masculine ending to match the genus is crumenifer. The species was originally described as Ciconia crumenifera. The common name marabou is thought to be derived from the Arabic word murābit meaning quiet or hermit-like. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised. The species is now placed with the lesser adjutant and the greater adjutant in the genus Leptoptilos that Lesson had introduced at the same time he described the marabou stork. He placed it in the stork genus Ciconia and coined the binomial name Ciconia crumenifera. The marabou stork was formally described in 1831 by the French naturalist René Lesson. It is sometimes called the " undertaker bird" due to its shape from behind: cloak-like wings and back, skinny white legs, and sometimes a large white mass of "hair". It breeds in both wet and arid habitats, often near human habitation, especially landfill sites. The marabou stork ( Leptoptilos crumenifer) is a large wading bird in the stork family Ciconiidae native to sub-Saharan Africa.
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