Painted Stork (Mycteria Leucocephala)
Standing from a distance, heronries of painted storks
look like cluttered dirty blobs of white on the tree tops. One really
has to strain his eyes to make out what exactly the entire scene
represents. A closer look brings in view spectacular ‘haunched up’
colony of large birds. Built on trees standing in or near water, one
might find as many as 10-20 nests on a single tree, almost touching
each other. Nests of cormorants, pelicans, egrets, open bill storks,
white ibises can also be found on the same tree.
Titled ‘dokh’ in Hindi, a stork is a massive bird with a
yellow, long and heavy bill, slightly de-curved near the tip. The
plumage is white and closely barred, marked with glistening black
above and with a black band across the breast.
¤ Found In
Large parties of these birds can be found near water bodies all over
the subcontinent. It loves to eat fish, frog and snakes. A female lays
3-5 dull white eggs. The youngsters are brought up with great care and
affection. Both the parents share domestic responsibilities and the
chicks are fed regularly |
