Top 6 Most Dangerous Birds In The World

Birds are commonly symbolized as something with peace and freedom. However, behind such size and stunning looks, certain species of birds are capable of wrecking a crock with just one bite.

The deadly character of these birds is all for the sake of their survival.  With such mighty might, it is best to stay far away from these creatures as possible. Here we would like to share the top 6 most dangerous birds in the world that you should be scared of.

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1. Shoebill Stork

A Shoebill Stork or also known as the Whalehead stork can generally be found in the eastern tropical region of Africa mainly in the swamps of South Sudan all the way to Zambia. An adult Shoebill Stork is commonly grey in color with the young ones being brown.

This bird has been known to exist since ancient Egyptian but it was not classified until the bird was brought to Europe in the 19th century. This scary bird can grow up to 137 cm with an average weight of 7 kg.

It is known for its slow movement and tends to be frozen for quite a long time. It uses its powerful beak to hunt down its prey like lungfish, snakes, and even small crocodiles.

2. King Vulture

King Vulture is found all over Central and South America. Its scary feature made it worthy to be King of carcasses. Its face and neck usually have vibrant colors and is a popular bird in the stories of the locals as well as in medicine.

However, in recent years their numbers have been rather declining due to the loss of their habitat. Its beak is a strong tool to rip its prey to shreds giving it an advantage over other birds in its category.

3. Marabou Stork

Capable of growing up to 167 cm in height, the Marabou Stork is a powerful beast compared to other species of birds. Similar to other storks, the Marabou also feasts on carcasses, and its bald head is an adaptation to avoid the messy fur while eating its prey.

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It commonly roams in Africa, especially in South Sahara where the area is extremely dry. The Marabou sometimes eat all sorts of things from human trash such as shoes and will attack if disturbed.

In South Africa, there have been reports of child casualties due to the Marabou Stork and it is something far too common in the country.

4. Andean Condor

The Andean Condor is a national symbol for several South American countries like Peru, Ecuador, Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, and Colombia. In fact, this dangerous bird plays a crucial role in the local stories as well as the mythical region of the Andean.

Like other herring birds, its head and neck are almost furless. It is found abundantly in the Andes Mountains and the Pacific Ocean close to the western part of South America. Andean Condor is one of the biggest birds in the world based on its weight and wingspan.

It can grow up to 15 kg but due to its huge wingspan of 3.3 meters, it is capable of staying on air without using much of its wing.

5. Great Potoo

Great Potoo is a nocturnal species and spends most of its days in camouflage while staying still on a tree branch. At night, it will hunt in the Central and South American forest looking for pesky rats.

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Its huge eyes and small black pupil allow the Great Potoo to see everything at every moment despite having its eyes mostly closed. Despite being small in size, the physical features of the Great Potoo are enough to leave anyone in terror.

6. Lammergeier

Lammergeier is also known as a bearded herring bird similar to eagles from Old World. In the German language, Lammergeier means lamb vulture. This bird tends to grow more than 1 meter in size with a wingspan of almost 3 meters.

It lives in the mountainous region of Central Asia and East Africa all the way to Spain. This bird usually eats up carcasses especially their bones as this bird dropped them from 80 meters in the air.

By doing this, they get to eat what's inside of the bone. Despite the human attack being a rare occurrence, Aeschylus a Greek writer was reported to have been murdered by this bird as the Lammergeier dropped a tortoise on top of her head.

The bird simply mistook her head for a rock but some might say that such a story was merely fictional as it was written by a comic artist.

Source:

• Holbrook Travel

• Audubon

Also read: Top 5 Most Dangerous Insects In The World