Photo StoryPublished : Feb 11, 2022Updated : May 24, 2022
Wetland waders, these birds are big on communal living, especially around breeding time, when they gather in large groups of several hundred
Text by: Neha Sumitran
Photos by: Dhritiman Mukherjee
Wetland waders, these birds are big on communal living, especially around breeding time, when they gather in large groups of several hundred
It’s around 6.30 am on a hazy winter morning in Goa, and I am squinting my eyes to get a clearer picture of a painted stork wading along the mangroves by an inlet of the Mapusa River. I watch the bird immerse its beak in the shallow water, move its head from side to side, and emerge with a morsel to eat. Its beak is long, yellow, and has a slight downward bend, similar to the ibis. Like many members of the stork family, its legs are pale pink and gangly, and its plumage is white, flecked with charcoal and rose-coloured feathers. It is a striking creature, especially its head, which is turmeric-yellow and devoid of plumage, giving me the impression of a broad forehead and a receding hairline.
Painted storks are what biologists call “obligatory wetland species”, meaning they can survive only in landscapes saturated with some amount of water. “They like wetlands with around a foot of water, some sort of underwater vegetation, and a slightly sloping shoreline,” says Dr Gopi Sunder, a conservation biologist and the Editor-in-Chief of the Waterbird Society journal. The shallow water level facilitates the growth of plants, which in turn attract water beetles, snakes, frogs, and fish, which form the primary diet of the painted stork.
Painted storks are found across South and Southeast Asia in habitats ranging from wetlands and mangrove mudflats to waterbodies around villages and urban areas. In India, communities of storks have also been reported on agricultural farmland where water-intensive crops like rice are grown. “In the North Indian context, the painted stork is getting into trouble as commercial development increases, especially around the NCR region, in Uttar Pradesh, and Gujarat, where farmland is being rapidly converted for development projects,” says Dr Sunder.
In the South of India, it’s the opposite. “Karnataka and many parts of Tamil Nadu are famous for building big irrigation tanks, and this has been going on for thousands of years,” explains Dr Sunder. “Often, these pond-tanks have an island-type space where trees come up, and it becomes a nice breeding and foraging habitat for painted storks.”
Painted storks are big on communal living, especially around their breeding time, when they gather in large groups with several hundred members. “We suspect this is because there is strength in numbers,” says Dr Sunder, who has been studying storks, cranes, and ibis to understand how humans can coexist with these species. “More eyes to look out for predators, and if there is a predator, only one or two birds will be taken before the predator is spotted. So by and large, the species is able to survive.”
Usually, this mass nesting is observed on trees that are in the water. “They really don’t like land-based trees, though there are notable exceptions such as in Kokrebellur (in Karnataka) and a few places around Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, where people don’t harm the birds,” says Dr Sunder. “In these areas, you can even find them on highways, where they nest on large ficus trees. That’s usually a sign that people are not bothering them.”
Males and females share nesting duties, which begin with creating a rough platform out of sticks and twiggy branches from the area. “They do quite a lot of stealing also,” says Dr Sunder. “They look around, and if the neighbouring nest is unattended, then they might steal the sticks from it.”
Next, the couple layers the twigs with soft, leafy material, presumably to create a cosy environment for the young chicks to hatch. Studies show that storks tend to favour leaves of strong-smelling plants such as neem and eucalyptus, though the reason is unknown. “It could provide some medicinal function because they seem to favour stuff that has alkaloids,” says Dr Sunder.
A month after the female lays eggs, baby storks hatch: naked, featherless, and entirely reliant on their parents. The parents feed their young for the next 45-50 days, and eventually, “they start to jump around in their nests and exercise their wings,” says Dr Sunder. “This is their way of building muscle so they can fly.” Young birds are ready to fly when primary feathers cover their wings, but even after this, they do follow their parents for a while. “Immediately after the breeding season, it’s not uncommon to see lots of young birds chasing their parents, and parents feeding them away from the nest as well,” says Dr Sunder. “This might continue for around four months after they hatch, at which point the parents stop providing for them, and they have to fend for themselves.”
Painted storks are not territorial birds and prefer the safety of large communities. They may even nest together with other waterbirds like grey herons (left) and egrets. “If you go to a breeding colony like Vedathangal in Tamil Nadu or Bharatpur in Rajasthan, you can see hundreds of birds all over the treetops,” says Dr Sunder. “In contrast, in places with lots of smaller wetlands, like Uttar Pradesh and parts of Madhya Pradesh, you will seldom see more than 40-50, maybe 100 birds together.”
The size of the community is determined by the resources available locally. “If there are too many birds, there is a chance food will be inadequate because food is a resource that is limited to the size of the wetland,” explains Dr Sunder. “So, they tend to optimise the numbers accordingly.” He adds that occasionally, during very dry periods, large groups of birds congregate in very small wetlands, or large water reservoirs, because they have nowhere else to go to hunt prey or drink water. But this is for a relatively short period of time in the summer.
Painted storks display site loyalty during the breeding season, returning to the same trees to nest again and again, year after year. “They don’t move around, like woolly-necked storks,” says Dr Sunder, “so maintaining the trees that they currently occupy is fairly important for the conservation of the species.”
In the last decade or so, painted storks have begun using agricultural fields for hunting and foraging, as these mimic wetland conditions, albeit temporarily. “Outside of the monsoon, many agriculture fields in India are watered using irrigation canals,” explains Dr Sunder. “When the water is let out, there is a brief flood, but then the water level goes down, exposing fish and frogs, which the storks feed on. It is an interesting new habitat for the painted storks, especially canals that are not paved with concrete.”
The geographical range of the painted stork is pretty extensive, but the habitats within this range are undergoing tremendous change, especially in the last few years. As wildlife explorers, we can do our part in ensuring their longevity with the choices we make when we travel. Some ways in which we can contribute to saving this beautiful, elegant creature is by choosing local guides, homestays, and operators that value the health of the habitat. Or we can contribute to conservation causes that support their vitality and enhance the well-being of our planet overall.
About the contributors
Neha Sumitran
spends her days gardening, cooking, and writing about food, biodiversity, and sustainable living in the Palani Hills of Tamil Nadu. She Instagrams @nehasumitran.
is one of India's most prolific wildlife and conservation photographers. His work has been featured in leading publications. He is also a RoundGlass Ambassador, and an RBS Earth Hero awardee.
