Most of Kenya’s largest birds live in open country, and are seldom seen on the wing, though only one species is truly flightless. Others simply prefer to spend their days on the ground, such as the ground hornbill, a turkey-sized creature that can be seen lumbering around in small family groups, rooting for grubs and insects.
Other large ground feeders include the secretary bird (whose head feathers resemble the quill pens of old clerical workers), the guinea fowls (helmeted, crested and vulturine), various cranes and bustards, francolins and spurfowl. All are capable fliers that usually roost in trees at night, but spend their days feeding terrestrially.
The same goes for large birds associated with water – the likes of great white egret, Goliath heron, yellow-billed stork and saddle-billed stork only take to the air when necessary. Another large stork, the marabou, sometimes feeds on frogs, but often abandons the water to scavenge carrion along with vultures.
Kenya’s seven species of vulture, of which the largest is the lappet-faced, always feed on the ground, where they sometimes seem ungainly and clumsy. But they spend most of the day gliding elegantly and effortlessly above the plains, employing thermals to reach a height of up to 900 metres (3,000ft) above the ground. Even at this height, their astonishing eyesight can discern a likely kill kilometres away.
The greater (white and red) and lesser (pink) flamingos sometimes number up to two million on Lake Nakuru. They feed on tiny organisms by sieving water through their bills.
Ariadne Van Zandbergen/Apa publications
The largest bird on earth