Bird Watching - Painted Stork

Painted Stork

A large stork with a long yellow bill that curves down at the tip. Adult is primarily white with black striped markings on the wings and bright pink on tertials. Their distinctive pink tertial (flight) feathers of the wing are pink giving them their name.

Local Names : Janghil Dokh (Hindi)

                     Varnakokku (Malayalam)

                     Chenga Narai (Tamil)

Scientific Name : Mycteria leucocephala

Painted Storks feed in groups in shallow wetlands. 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. They also take frogs and the occasional snake.  

These storks typically fly with their head and neck drooping almost at or below the belly level. 

Often seen near water bodies such as wetlands, marshes, and flooded agricultural fields. Breeds in crowded colonies, often with other waterbirds.

They nest colonially in trees, often along with other waterbirds. Nest  is a large stick platform with a shallow depression in the middle lined with leaves, straw etc. Built on trees standing in or near water, often 10 to 20 nest in a single tree and almost touching one another. Breeds in enormous heronries, often sharing these with other water birds. Eggs 3 to 5 , dull sullied white , occasionally with sparse brown spots and streaks. both sexes share all the domestic duties.

The bare red skin on the head is developed when reaching breeding maturity and involves the loss of feathers and the deposition of lipids under the skin

References

The Book of Indian Birds (Salim Ali)

Wikipedia

Pictures:

Kaikondrahalli Lake , Bangalore (2018, 2019)

Pallikaranai Wetlands , Chennai ( 2020)