Painted stork
Painted stork | |
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Adult, Yala National Park, Sri Lanka | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Ciconiiformes |
Family: | Ciconiidae |
Genus: | Mycteria |
Species: | M. leucocephala
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Binomial name | |
Mycteria leucocephala (Pennant, 1769)
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Synonyms | |
Tantalus leucocephalus |
The painted stork (Mycteria leucocephala) is a large
Description
This large stork has a heavy yellow beak with a down-curved tip that gives it a resemblance to an
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 rest. The short tail is black with a green gloss.[2] For a stork, it is medium-sized, standing about 93–102 cm (36.5–40 in) tall, 150–160 cm (59–63 in) in wingspan and weighing 2–3.5 kg (4.4–7.7 lb). Males and females appear alike but the males of a pair are usually larger than the female.[3][4]
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.[5]
Like all storks, they fly with their neck outstretched. They often make use of the late morning thermals to soar in search of foraging areas. Like other storks they are mostly silent but clatter their bills at nest and may make some harsh croaking or low moaning[2] sounds at nest.[6]
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Downy chicks at nest in Uppalapadu
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A young chick begs parent for food at nest
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Immatures at their nests onBharatpur, India)
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Sub adult (left) and adult heads
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In flight
Taxonomy
In the past the species has been placed in the genera Ibis, Tantalus and Pseudotantalus. The slight curve to the beak led them to be considered as a relative of the ibises. The older genus names were based on Greek mythology where Tantalus was punished by having to stand in a pool of water.[7] T C Jerdon called it the "Pelican Ibis".[8] Later studies placed along with the wood-storks in the genus Mycteria, members of which have similar bill structure and share a common feeding behaviour of sweeping their half-open bill from side to side inside water as they wade[9] and their evolutionary affinity has been confirmed by sequence based studies.[10][11]
Distribution and habitat
The painted stork is widely
Behaviour and ecology
Painted storks feed in groups in shallow wetlands, crop fields and irrigation canals. The maximum success of finding prey was at 7 cm of water depth at Keoladeo-Ghana National Park.[20] 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.[21] They also take frogs and the occasional snake.[22] They forage mainly in the day but may forage late or even at night under exceptional conditions.[23] After they are fed they may stand still on the shore for long durations.[24] Painted storks in the Delhi region were observed eating fish, while those in Kokrebellur in south India fed nestlings with frogs, crabs, large insects and grasshoppers.[25] Flock sizes in agricultural landscapes are mostly small (<5 birds) but reach flocks of over 50 birds. In such landscapes, flock sizes do not vary much between seasons, but densities are much higher in winter after chicks of the year have fledged from nests.[14]
Painted storks breed on trees either in mixed colonies along with other water birds, or by themselves.[26] The breeding season begins in the winter months shortly after the monsoons. In northern India, the breeding season begins in mid-August[15] while in southern India the nest initiation begins around October[27] and continues till February[28] and or even until April.[6][18] One detailed study in Bengaluru city saw storks building nests between early February and mid-March, with all of the observed nests having fledgelings by mid-May.[19] Considerable variation is noticed in the onset of breeding across sites with the season at Kokrebellur and Edurupattu around January or February but at Telineelapuram, Kundakulam and Tirunelveli the breeding begins around October or November.[27]
The typical
A bird louse, Ardeicola tantali was described on the basis of a specimen obtained from this species[39] as also a subcutaneous mite, Neottialges kutzeri, of the family Hypoderidae.[40]
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catching fish
Conservation
Painted stork nesting colonies often become centres of tourist attraction due to their large size and colour. Particularly well-known nest sites close to human settlements are in the south Indian villages of Kokrebellur and Veerapura. In Kokrebellur, the birds nest within the trees in the village forming mixed nesting colonies with the spot-billed pelican. The local people provide security to these birds during the brief nesting season when the birds arrive in October and until they leave the village after a couple of months.[41][17] Another well-known colony that has been studied since the 1960s is the one inside the
There are some concerns for the closely related milky stork owing to hybridization with the painted stork, particularly in zoos. Hybrids have been recorded in the wild in Cambodia and in several zoos including those at Kuala Lumpur, Singapore Zoo and Bangkok.[51][52] Hybridization with lesser adjutant storks have also been recorded in several zoos, especially at the Colombo Zoo, Sri Lanka where a male painted stork and female lesser adjutant mated and reared chicks several times.[26]
Gallery
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Adults at nest site (Uppalapadu, India). Note white on legs due to urohidrosis.
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A mixed-age flock resting in a fallow field
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Adult in a nest (Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary, Kerala, India)
References
- ^ BirdLife International (2023). "Mycteria leucocephala". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2023: e.T22697658A228020407. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
- ^ a b Rasmussen, PC & JC Anderson (2005). Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide. Volume 2. Smithsonian Institution & Lynx Editions. p. 62.
- .
- PMID 21480370.
- ^ a b c d e Elliott, A. (1992). "Family Ciconiidae (Storks)". In del Hoyo, J.; A. Elliott; J. Sargatal (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 1. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. pp. 449–458.
- ^ a b c d Whistler, Hugh (1940). Popular handbook of Indian Birds. Fourth edition. Gurney and Jackson, London. pp. 503–505.
- ^ Le Messurier, A. (1904). Game, shore and water birds of India (4th ed.). W Thacker and Co. p. 193.
- ^ Burgess, Lieut (1855). "Notes on the habits of some Indian Birds". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 23: 70–74.
- .
- JSTOR 1521772.
- PMID 28565256.
- ^ Sashi Kumar,C; Jayakumar,C; Jaffer,Muhammed (1991). "Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus (Linn.) and Painted Stork Mycteria leucocephala (Pennant): two more additions to the bird list of Kerala". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 88 (1): 110.
- ^ Sathasivam, Kumaran (1992). "Painted Stork Mycteria leucocephala (Pennant) in Kerala". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 89 (2): 246.
- ^ JSTOR 4132592.
- ^ a b Urfi, AJ; T Meganathan & A Kalam (2007). "Nesting ecology of the Painted Stork Mycteria leucocephala at Sultanpur National Park, Haryana, India". Forktail. 23: 150–153.
- ^ .
- ^ a b Neginhal, SG (1977). "Discovery of a pelicanry in Karnataka". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 74 (1): 169–170.
- ^ JSTOR 1521563.
- ^ a b c Suryawanshi, Kulbhushan, R.; Sundar, K. S. Gopi (2019). "Breeding ecology of the Painted Stork Mycteria leucocephala in a managed urban wetland". Indian Birds. 15: 33–37.
{{cite journal}}
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- ^ .
- ^ Urfi,Abdul Jamil (1989). "Painted Stork Mycteria leucocephala (Pennant) swallowing a snake". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 86 (1): 96.
- ^ Kannan V & R. Manakadan (2007). "Nocturnal foraging by Painted Storks Mycteria leucocephala at Pulicat Lake, India" (PDF). Indian Birds. 3 (1): 25–26. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-04-25. Retrieved 2011-08-01.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-562063-4.
- .
- ^ ISBN 978-0-12-322730-0.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ^ a b Bhat, H. R.; P. G. Jacob & A. V. Jamgaonkar (1990). "Observations on a breeding colony of Painted Stork Mycteria leucocephala (Pennant) in Anantapur District, Andhra Pradesh". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 88: 443–445.
- ^ Hume, AO (1890). The nests and eggs of Indian Birds. Volume 3. Second edition. R H Porter. pp. 220–223.
- ^ .
- ^ Desai, J.H.; Menon, G.K.; Shah, R.V. (1977). "Studies on the reproductive pattern of the Painted Stork, Ibis leucocephalus". Pavo. 15: 1–32.
- doi:10.1650/7506.
- ^ Urfi, AJ (2003). "Record of a nesting colony of painted stork Mycteria leucocephala at Man-Marodi Island in the Gulf of Kutch". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 100 (1): 109–110.
- ^ Sundar, KSG (2005). "Predation of fledgling Painted Stork Mycteria leucocephala by a Spotted Eagle Aquila spp. in Sultanpur National Park, Haryana" (PDF). Indian Birds. 1 (6): 144–145. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-20. Retrieved 2009-11-17.
- ^ Lowther, E. H. N. (1949). A bird photographer in India. Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press. p. 140.
- PMID 34625581.
- ^ Desai, J.H.; Shah, R.V.; Menon, G.K. (1974). "Diet and food requirements of Painted Storks at the breeding colony in the Delhi Zoological Park". Pavo. 12: 13–23.
- ^ Shah, R.V.; Menon, G.K.; Desai, J.H.; Jani, M.B. (1977). "Feather loss from capital tracts of Painted Storks related to growth and maturity: 1. Histophysiological changes and lipoid secretion in the integument". J. Anim. Morphol. Physiol. 24 (1): 99–107.
- .
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- PMID 4719286.
- ^ Neginhal,SG (1993). "The bird village". Sanctuary Asia. 13 (4): 26–33.
- ^ Urfi, A. J. (1998). "A monsoon delivers storks". Natural History. 107: 32–39.
- ^ Urfi, Abdul Jamal; Meganathan, Thangarasu; Kalam, Abdul (2007). "Nesting ecology of the Painted Stork Mycteria leucocephala at Sultanpur National Park, Haryana, India" (PDF). Forktail. 23: 150–153.
- ^ Urfi, Abdul Jamal (2020). "Indian heronries need conservation monitoring". Nature - India.
- ^ Pattanaik C; SN Prasad; N Nagabhatla; CM Finlayson (2008). "Kolleru regains its grandeur" (PDF). Current Science. 94 (1): 9–10.
- ^ Pattanaik, C; S N Prasad; EN Murthy; C S Reddy (2008). "Conservation of Painted Stork habitats in Andhra Pradesh" (PDF). Current Science. 95 (8): 1001.
- ^ Subramanya S (2005). "Heronries of Tamil Nadu" (PDF). Indian Birds. 1 (6): 126–140. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-20. Retrieved 2009-11-17.
- .
- ^ Weinman,AN (1940). "Breeding of the Indian Painted Stork under semi-domestication". Spolia Zeylanica. 22 (1): 141–144.
- ^ Zakaria, M. A.; Daud, U. N. S.; Mansor, M. S.; Nor, S. M. (2023). "The breeding ecology of the Painted Stork Mycteria leucocephala in Central Peninsular Malaysia" (PDF). Science and Technology. 31 (2): 1121–1135.
- ^ Li Zuo Wei, D.; Siti Hawa Yatim; Howes, J.; Ilias, R. (2006). Status Overview and Recommendations for the Conservation of Milky Stork Mycteria cinerea in Malaysia: Final report of the 2004/2006 Milky Stork field surveys in the Matang Mangrove Forest, Perak. Wetlands International.
- doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2018.11.009.)
{{cite journal}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
Other sources
- Chaleow Salakij, Jarernsak Salakij, Nual-Anong Narkkong, Decha Pitakkingthong and Songkrod Poothong (2003) Hematology, Morphology, Cytochemistry and Ultrastructure of Blood Cells in Painted Stork (Mycteria leucocephala). Kasetsart J. (Nat. Sci.) 37:506-513
- Urfi, A. J. (1997). "The significance of Delhi Zoo for wild water birds, with special reference to the Painted Stork (Mycteria leucocephala)". Forktail. 12: 87–97.
External links
- Media related to Mycteria leucocephala at Wikimedia Commons
- Photographs and video - Internet Bird Collection