Mycteria leucocephala

(Pennant, 1769)

Vernacular names
English : Painted stork
French : Tantale indien

Classification
Class : Aves
Order : Pelecaniformes
Family : Ciconiidae
Notes : No subspecies known

Identification
Adults can grow to a size of 1 m for a weight of 3.5 kg. Dark red legs, long orange-yellow bill, face naked and orange to nearly red in color. Plumage white with black breast band and large black area on wings. Some wing feathers are pink.

Range and habitat
The species occurs in southern Asia, from south Pakistan and most of India to Sri Lanka, east to Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. Lives in shallow freshwater and coastal wetlands in lowlands, occasionally in cities.

Conservation
IUCN RED LIST : NEAR THREATENED
CITES : Not Listed
Status : The species is threatened by habitat loss and wetland drainage. Hunting occurs on local scale. It remains the most numerous Asian stork so far.
Ex-Situ Programs : SSP in America

Observation
San Antonio Zoo (USA), Jurong Bird Park (Singapore), Zoo Negara (Malaysia), Kuala Lumpur Bird Park (Malaysia), Dusit Zoo (Thailand), Khao Kheow Open Zoo (Thailand), Zoo Wuppertal (Germany)

 

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