Painted Stork

Painted Storks (Mycteria leucocephala) are one of the beautiful birds endemic to the Indian sub-continent below the Himalayas and some parts of East Asia. They are non-migratory, travel within their range that spreads from the Indus river on the western side to as far as Malaysia and Cambodia. However, the bulk of the population resides in India and is seen in most wetlands and water bodies in the country. They are locally known as janghil or dhok.

Painted Stork, Keoladeo Bird Sanctuary, Rajasthan

These birds get their name from the distinctive pink tertial feathers. The heavy yellow beak is with a down-curved tip makes it resemble an Ibis. However, its flight is typical stork-like with its head extended. They have a black breast-band with white scaly markings that extend into their underwing coverts. The rest of the body is white, and the legs are yellow.

Painted Stork foraging at Basai Wetlands, Haryana

The Painted Storks prefer shallow waters, and they feed on small fish, frogs and at times, even snakes. They forage mainly during the day, walking slowly in water flushing out the fish with their movement. Some birds even forage at night. These birds live in small groups, and nest in colonies with other storks, ibises, spoonbills, cormorants, black-crowned night herons and others.

Painted Stork in flight over Keoladeo Bird Sanctuary, Bharatpur

For those residing in Delhi, the best places to watch large colonies of painted storks, especially during their breeding season which begins after the rains is the National Zoological Park where a few hundred wild birds appear every season and build nests on the trees beside water bodies in this safe habitat. 

Painted Storks nesting at Keoladeo Bird Sanctuary, Bharatpur

Another location made picturesque by these birds in their hundreds is the Keoladeo Bird Sanctuary in Bharatpur, Rajasthan where huge colonies of Painted Storks build their nests in the trees on islands, safe from humans and most predators.

Painted Storks at Keoladeo Bird Sanctuary, Bharatpur

The Painted Stork typically lays a clutch of two to five eggs, in the nests they build on trees, and incubates them over a month. The birds take care of their eggs and fledglings from crows, kites, eagles and other predators. The parents are also sighted standing over the nests with their wings extended to protect the young birds from the hot sun.

Painted Stork, Juvenile, at Delhi Zoo

Painted Stork, Juvenile, at Delhi Zoo

Painted Stork, Juvenile, at Delhi Zoo

The baby storks are white in color, with grey bills and black skin on their heads. The juveniles are brownish as seen in the photographs in this blog. They mature and reach breeding age in two to three years, by which time the color of their facial skin turns red and the ‘paintings’ appear on their plumage! No wonder these colonies of breeding painted storks become tourist places where birds and photographers appear in droves to admire and click these beautiful large birds!

Painted Storks in raucous breeding activity at Bharatpur

The Painted Storks live for about 20 to 28 years, and stay in more or less the same location for most of their lives. With predators such as leopards, crocodiles, hyenas and humans, and facing an increasingly shrinking habitat, these birds have been categorized as “Near Threatened” by the IUCN. 

Painted Stork in flight over Basai wetlands, near Gurgaon, Haryana

At times, even silly decisions by sanctuary authorities can drive away these birds from nesting sites. A case in point was last year, when a bird-brained decision was made at the Keoladeo Bird Sanctuary in Bharatpur to build small islands in the water bodies right at the time when the birds started nesting. The human activity as well as the noisy construction of an internal road led to an exodus of Painted Storks from the sanctuary, leaving behind their nests, eggs and nestlings!

Painted Storks roost in colonies at Keoladeo Bird Sanctuary, Bharatpur