The majority of the discoveries are concentrated in Liang Bua cave located slightly north of Ruteng in the East Nusa Tenggara province.

The genus name Leptotilos is derived from the Greek word lepto meaning "thin or slender", which refers to the stork's slim build and the Greek word ptilo meaning "down or soft feather", referring to the soft feather down covering the frame of the members of Leptotilos stork.

It can be inferred from the recorded dimensions of the bones that L. robustus was substantially taller and heavier than other species of Leptoptilos, which reach a maximum weight of 9 kg.

Unfortunately, the sparse fossil record of birds from South-East Asia makes the evolutionary history of robustus difficult to trace.

The thick-walled tibiotarsus, constituting the thickest of all other extant and extinct Leptoptilini species, is an unusual feature for flying birds which usually selects for minimum mass.

As well as heavier than normal bone structure, measured size ratios were thought to suggest that it may have had reduced forelimbs and therefore flight capabilities.

However, the fragmentary nature of the ulna and the carpometacarpus found did not allow an accurate estimate of wingspan length and the question as to whether or not L. robustus could fly was formerly uncertain.

[3] A fragment of a proximal left carpometacarpus was one of the bones discovered to be a part of robustus, consisting of half of the os metacarpale majus and the trochlea carpalis.

This abundance of food reduced the need to travel large distances in search of resources and would have put very little selection pressure on flight apparatuses and mechanisms.

Commonly known as "hobbits," these small hominids reached an estimated 110 cm (3 ft 7 in) in height, approximately half as tall as L. robustus; adults and juveniles may have been prey for the giant stork.

[4] Leptoptilos robustus was discovered in the Liang Bua limestone cave on the island of Flores, Indonesia which is located about 13 kilometers northwest of Ruteng.

[1] Comparing the osteological features, large size, and thick bone wall of the tibiotarsus to extinct and extant members of Leptoptilos, the fossil remains from Liang Bua were assigned as a new species robustus.

The island of Flores, Indonesia is distinct in its isolation, separated from the Sunda continental shelf by deep water all year round.

L. robustus in the Pleistocene epoch would have experienced similar, if not the same, geographical conditions as the extant species residing on the island today.