Common Name: Painted Strok
Scientific Name:Mycteria leucocephala
Local Name:- चित्रबालक,रंगीत करकोचा,चामढोक
Date Of Sighting:- 12-May-2012
Place of Sighting:- Airoli-Mumbai/Thane, Maharashtra
Type:-
Status:- Painted Stork:- Near Threatened.
The Oriental white Stork,Storm's Stork, and Greater adjutant are endangered species.
Lesser adjutant and milky stork are listed as Vulnerable.
Description
The painted Stork is large wading bird in the stork family.It is found in the Wetlands of the plains of tropical asia south of the Himalays in south Asia and extended in to southeast asia.
Their Distinctive Pink tertial feathers give then their name.
They forage in flocks in shallow waters along rivers or lakes.They immerse their half open beaks in water and sweep them from side to side and snap up their prey of small fish that are sensed by touch.As they wade along they also stir the water with their feet to flush hiding fish.They nest colonially in trees, often along with other waterbirds.
They Only sounds they produce are weak moans or bill clattering at nest.They are not migratory and only manke short distance movements in some parts of their range in response to food and for breeding.Like other storks,They are often seen on thermals
Habitat, Region, and Climate:-
1.They found near fresh water body.2.They are resident in most of the area.
3.Found in South reason
Feeding Habits ( food ):-
1.Fish, Frogs and Crabs and Snake
2.The Wood Storks, which almost entirely by touching using open, sensitive bill, has been recorded as reacting in 25 milliseconds, the fastest recorded response of any vertebrate.
3.daily requirement of chicks has been estimated to be around 500 grams made upp of 9 fish fed in two sessions
Distinctive features:-
1.Male and female appears alike but male of pair are larger than female.
Bird House and Nesting
1.They nest colonially in tress and often along with other Water birds.
Genaral Size and Shape:-
1.This large stork has a heavy yellow bill with Down -curved tip that gives it resemblance to an Ibis.
2.The head of adult is bare and orange or reddish in colour
3.The long tertials are tipped in bright and pink and at rest they extended over the black and rump.
4.There is distinctive black breast band with white scaly marking
5.The band continues in to underwing coverts and the white tips of black coverts give it the apperance of white strips running across the Under wing lining.
6.The rest of the body is whitish is adult and the primaries and secondaries are black with greenish gloss.The legs are yellowish to res but often appear white due their habit of urohidrosis or defecating on their legs especially when at nest
7.The Short tail is black with a green gloss.For a stork, it is medium -sized, standing about 93-102 cm (37-40 in ) tall,150-160 cm 9 59-63 in ) in wing span and weighing 2-3.5 kg ( 4.4-7.7 lbs )
Egg :-Giving 2 to 5 eggs
Importance of birds:-
Storks also provide important ecological values,playing Key role in food chains.Their consuption of invertebrates,amphibians,fish and even small mammals and young crocodiles helps to maintain balance in these population
