Animalia Life
Mycteria leucocephala
SUBFAMILY
Tribe Mycteriini
TAXONOMY
Tantalus leucocephalus Pennant, 1769, Ceylon. Monotypic.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
English: Painted wood stork, Indian wood ibis; French: Tantale
Indien; German: Buntstorch; Spanish: Tбntalo Indio.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Length 3–3.3 ft (93–102 cm), wingspan 4.9–5.2 ft (150–160
cm); 4.4–7.8 lb (2–3.5 kg). Black and white with orange/red
face and yellow bill slightly downcurved at the tip.
DISTRIBUTION
India and Indochina.
HABITAT
Shallow freshwater lakes, marshes, and flooded fields.
BEHAVIOR
Gregarious. Flies with neck extended and slightly lowered.
Generally quiet, but performs “wing-woofing” and bill-clattering
during courtship displays.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Mostly fish, but also frogs, small reptiles, and invertebrates.
Locates prey by touch, stalking shallow water with an open
bill, using feet and wing flaps to disturb prey.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Colonial, up to 100 nests together. Clutch size three to four,
incubation 28–32 days, fledging 60 days.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not threatened. Local declines have occurred though through
hunting and capture for zoos.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
Popular species whose colonies are actively supported and protected
by locals.
Photo Gallery of - Painted stork
