Painted Stork

Painted Stork an apt name for this bird, one might even say slightly poetic. I saw this beauty in the wide Puttenahalli Lake in Bangalore in June 2019. It is not easy to ignore them and move away as  they stand tall with colours of white, black, pink and an orange head with a yellow beak. I thought that is it, a one time wonder and beauty to see.

 

But I saw them again right here in Delhi. In our very own Sanjay Lake, what caught my eye was the spread of its wings and the ease of its flight as it came down to very close to where I stood. I was like a kid who had been given her favourite toy!  I somehow got a picture of the stork flying too in all that excitement.

The painted stork is found in the wetlands of the plains of Tropical Asia and extends into South-east Asia. They forage in flocks in shallow water near rives or lakes. The long yellow bill slightly curves like that of an Ibis. They forage in quest of frogs and fish. Nesting season is between August and January varying with local conditions and lay 3 to 5 eggs.

I thought they were migratory birds as I had never seen them in Delhi before, or maybe it's because I didn't frequent a lake in Delhi as recently in past three years. However, they are not migratory birds and fly very short distances in their range depending on the weather or food or for breeding. They are seen to soar on thermals like other storks. It is amongst the 17 species of storks found around the world.

The species is currently classified as Near Threatened, wouldn't it be a shame to loose such a beautiful bird? These two pictures are of the stork standing on the opposite side of the lake.

 

 In these pictures it is very close to where I was standing. :)