No, that is not an old, sick or diseased stork. That is its normal appearance. It definitely has a chance for the title of “Ugliest Creation on Earth.” Nobody is going to give this stork a job delivering babies.

The big throat sack is not a pleasant feature

The hunched over posture and skinny legs are no help either. It looks like the vampire Nosferatu or else an elderly flasher with no pants in a black trench coat. If vampires would like some pets besides bats and wolves these storks might be a good fit. There is nothing even a Hollywood plastic surgeon could do here. The only hope for the poor stork is that reincarnation is real and if they live the life of a good stork they might be reborn as a koala bear, a panda or almost anything else that isn’t so hideous.

Nosferatu

The stork follows it unsightly appearance up with some rather wicked behavior. Marabou storks eat carrion, as in dead and decaying flesh, like vultures. Since it’s head and neck are bare, it can poke deep inside a dead animal’s body without getting its feathers messy. Besides carrion what do they eat? Other things that witches might put in a stew: insects, baby crocodiles, flamingos, small mammals, frogs and fish.

However, this is not to say that beauty is everything. The storks play an important role in the ecosystem as a scavenger. They help renew the earth by cleaning it of refuse and dead animals.

The bill is lighter and more sensitive than it looks and the ugly sack hanging down from the throat is useful for temperature control and stork communication. They prefer drier grasslands within flying distance of rivers or lakes or else garbage dumps. They have been observed waiting nearby grassfires to prey on fleeing animals.