Painted Stork

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

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

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 the typical clutch.

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.

Young 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 on the ground in open plains seeking its prey, which like that of most of its relatives, is fish, frogs and large insects.

Reference

• Birds of India by Grimmett, Inskipp and Inskipp, ISBN 0-691-04910-6