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Painted Stork

Mycteria leucocephala

Description:

A near threatened species. This is a family, the last pic shows the parent. 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 band continues into the underwing coverts and the white tips of the black coverts give it the appearance of white stripes running across the underwing lining. The rest of the body is whitish in adults and the primaries and secondaries are black with a greenish gloss. The legs are yellowish to red but often appear white due their habit of urohidrosis or defecating on their legs especially when at nest. The short tail is black with a green gloss. Males and females appear alike but the males of a pair are usually larger than the female. The downy young are mainly whitish with grey bills and blackish facial skin. The juveniles assume a brownish plumage and like most other storks reach breeding condition after two to three years. Like all storks, they fly with their neck outstretched. Painted Storks feed in groups in shallow wetlands. They feed mainly on small fish which they sense by touch while slowly sweeping their half open bill from side to side while it held submerged. They walk slowly and also disturb the water with their feet to flush fish. They may also intake frogs and the occasional snake. They forage mainly in the day but may forage late or even at night under exceptional conditions.To feed chicks, adults regurgitate fish that they have caught and these are typically small.

Habitat:

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 absent from very dry or desert regions, dense forests and the higher hill regions. They are rare in most of Kerala. They are mainly seen on freshwater wetlands although they sometimes forage on the coast. They are resident in most regions but make seasonal movements. Young birds may disperse far from their breeding sites. Seen near cultivated fields, nearby a marshy wetland.

Notes:

All above details from wikipedia.

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4 Comments

Wild Things
Wild Things 12 years ago

Thanks Karen.

KarenL
KarenL 12 years ago

Gorgeous series Satyen! Well done!

Wild Things
Wild Things 12 years ago

Thank you very much Atul.

Atul
Atul 12 years ago

Lovely shots !

Wild Things
Spotted by
Wild Things

Gujarat, India

Spotted on Mar 4, 2012
Submitted on Mar 4, 2012

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Reference

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