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Painted Stork

A species of Wood Storks
Scientific name : Mycteria leucocephala Genus : Wood Storks

Painted Stork, A species of Wood Storks
Botanical name: Mycteria leucocephala
Genus: Wood Storks
Painted Stork (Mycteria leucocephala) Photo By Manvendra Bhangui from Chennai, India , used under CC-BY-SA-2.0 /Cropped and compressed from original

Description

This large stork has a heavy yellow beak with a down-curved tip that gives it a resemblance to an ibis. The head of the adult is bare and orange or reddish in colour. The long tertials are tipped in bright pink and at rest they extend over the back and rump. There is a distinctive black breast band with white scaly markings. The rest of the body is whitish in adults and the primaries and secondaries are black with a greenish gloss. The short tail is black with a green gloss.
Size
1.02 m
Life Expectancy
28 years
Nest Placement
Tree
Feeding Habits
Painted Stork primarily preys on fish, but its diet also includes amphibians, reptiles, and aquatic crustaceans. It forages in shallow waters, displaying a unique side-to-side head movement to locate prey.
Habitat
Painted Stork predominantly resides in shallow freshwater habitats such as lakes, marshes, and riverbanks. Adapted to monsoon-enriched environments, they also inhabit rice paddies and man-made water bodies like irrigation canals. Though chiefly found in freshwaters, painted Stork sometimes frequents coastal wetlands and salt pans. They nest in trees near or over water and can adapt to urban settings, including zoos.
Dite type
Piscivorous

General Info

Feeding Habits

Bird food type

Behavior

They walk slowly and also disturb the water with their feet to flush fish. They also take frogs and the occasional snake. They forage mainly in the day but may forage late or even at night under exceptional conditions. After they are fed they may stand still on the shore for long durations. Painted storks breed on trees either in mixed colonies along with other water birds, or by themselves. The breeding season begins in the winter months shortly after the monsoons.

Distribution Area

The painted stork is widely distributed over the plains of Asia. They are found south of the Himalayan ranges and are bounded on the west by the Indus River system where they are rare and extend eastwards into Southeast Asia. They are resident in most regions but make seasonal movements. Young birds may disperse far from their breeding sites as demonstrated by a juvenile ringed at a nest in Keoladeo National Park that was recovered 800 kilometres away at Chilka in eastern India.

Species Status

Captive birds are known to breed readily when provided with nesting materials and platforms. The largest secure population is found in India. Birds in Pakistan along the Indus River system are endangered and chicks at their nests are taken away for the bird trade. The species was nearly decimated in Thailand while small populations are known from Cambodia and Vietnam. There are some concerns for the closely related milky stork owing to hybridization with the painted stork, particularly in zoos.
Painted Stork (Mycteria leucocephala) Painted Stork (Mycteria leucocephala) Photo By Manvendra Bhangui from Chennai, India , used under CC-BY-SA-2.0 /Cropped and compressed from original

Scientific Classification

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