Painted stork

Painted Stork
Conservation status
Near Threatened
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Ciconiiformes Family: Ciconiidae Genus: Mycteria Species: M. leucocephala
Binomial name
Mycteria leucocephala (Pennant, 1769)

The Painted Stork, Mycteria leucocephala, is a large wading bird in the stork family Ciconiidae.

Immatures at nest at Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India.

In flight at Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India.

It is a tropical species which breeds in Asia from India and Sri Lanka to southeast Asia. It is a resident breeder in lowland wetlands with trees. The large stick nest is built in a forest tree, and 2-5 eggs is a typical clutch.

The Painted Stork is a broad winged soaring bird. Like all storks, it flies with its neck outstretched.

The adult is a large bird, 95-100cm tall, mainly white with black flight feathers. The head is red, and the long downcurved bill is yellow. The tail and legs are pink, and there is dark barring on the breast. Juvenile birds are a duller version of the adult, generally browner and lacking the bright colours of the adult. The Painted Stork walks slowly and steadily in shallow waters or adjacent wet grassland seeking its prey, which, like that of most of its relatives, includes fish, frogs and large insects. It sweeps its head from side to side with its bill half open in water as it hunts for fish.

The Painted Stork nests colonially and famous nesting colonies include the ones in the New Delhi Zoological Garden and Kokrebellur in southern India.

References

• BirdLife International (2006). Mycteria leucocephala. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is near threatened
• Grimmett, Inskipp and Inskipp; Birds of India. ISBN 0-691-04910-6

Gallery

at Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India.	Mainly Immatures at Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India.	At Dusk with reflection in still waters near Hodal in Faridabad District of Haryana, India.	At Dusk with reflection in still waters near Hodal in Faridabad District of Haryana, India.
Foraging in water. India.	Breeding colony	In flight	Breeding Colony in Gujarat, Vidyanagar Nature Club
A pair of painted storks at Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary	In nest	Drying out feathers

Media

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Mycteria leucocephala

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