Marabou stork on human garbage and hundreds of the huge birds can be found around African dumps or waiting for a hand out in urban areas. Marabous eating human garbage have been seen to devour virtually anything that they can swallow, including shoes and pieces of metal. Marabous conditioned to eating from human sources have been known to lash out when refused food. The marabou stork breeds in colonies, starting during the dry season. The female lays two to three of eggs in a small nest made of sticks; eggs hatch after an incubation period of 30 days. Their young reach sexual
Marabou stork substances when the bird's head was inside a large corpse, and the bare head is easier to keep clean. This large and powerful bird eats mainly carrion, scraps and faeces but will opportunistically eat almost any animal matter it can swallow. It occasionally eats other birds including "quelea" nestlings, pigeons, doves, pelican and cormorant chicks, and even flamingos. During the breeding season, adults scale back on carrion and take mostly small, live prey since nestlings need this kind of food to survive. Common prey at this time may consist of fish, frogs, insects, eggs, small mammals and reptiles such as