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Scientific Name:
Mycteria cineria
Classification:
Order : Ciconiiformes
Family : Ciconiidae
Description:
The Milky Stork is an all-white bird, except for the flight feathers
of the wing and tail, which are black, with a greenish gloss, standing
91-95 cm tall. It's down curved bill, similarly shaped to that of
other wood storks, is dull yellow and sometimes tipped with white.
Its legs are dull red to flesh colour, its bare facial skin is grayish
to dark maroon, blotched irregularly with black. The iris is dark
brown to grey-brown. In appearance, the Milky Stork is altogether
a rather dull version of its African relative, the Yellow Billed
Stork.
In courtship, the white plumage brightens, becoming
suffused with a very pale cream-yellow tinge (hence 'milky' stork).
During breeding, it shows a narrow pinkish band of bare skin along
the underside of the wing, the bill turns a deep yellow, the legs
become a deep magenta, the facial skin turns dark wine-red (which
soon after courtship, fades to a paler orange-red). The males are
slightly larger on average and with a relatively thinner, longer bill.
Behaviour:
The sounds produced by the Milky Stork are not noticeably different
from those of the other wood storks. Generally silent, except at breeding
colonies. A falsetto 'fizzing' vocalization, audible for about 75
m, bill-clattering and wing noise are also heard during other social
displays. Nestlings make a frog-like croaking sound when begging.
At breeding colonies and feeding areas, flight activities are contagious,
with a take-off by one bird often followed by several other birds
nearby. After breeding, it will shift when rain fall patterns change
or because of disturbance or harassment.
Distribution:
South East Asia, including Cambodia, Southern Vietnam, the lowlands
of Malaysia, and several island in Indonesia.
Habitat:
In lowlands, lakes, marshes, tidal mudflats, saline pools and especially
at coastal mangrove swamps.
Reproduction:
Lays 2-4 eggs
Similar Species:
Yellowbilled Stork, etc
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