Scott Hanko
Yellow-billed Storks
The Yellow-billed Stork, Mycteria ibis, is a large wading bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. It occurs in Africa south of the Sahara and in Madagascar. Its a medium-sized stork. Length: 97 cm; average body weight for males: 2.3 kg; for females: 1.9 kg. Plumage mainly pinkish-white with black wings and tail; bill yellow, blunt, and decurved at tip. Immature birds are greyish brown with dull greyish brown bill, dull orange face and brownish legs. The similar Painted Stork (Mycteria leucocephala) is an Asian bird.
The Yellow-billed Stork is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.
Yellow-billed storks are adaptive and intelligent. They have a fishing technique of using one foot to stir up the water to flush out prey. A quick muscular reflex in the neck enables yellow-billed storks to catch almost all of their food in the water. These storks do not socialize much with one another and tend to isolate themselves in swamps, muddy rivers and marshes. They breed nearly year round. The male chooses the location of the nest and works with the female to build it in 7-10 days. Two or three eggs are laid one at a time, two days apart, so the chicks hatch on different days about a month later.
Wild Animal Park Escondido Ca.
Yellow-billed Storks
The Yellow-billed Stork, Mycteria ibis, is a large wading bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. It occurs in Africa south of the Sahara and in Madagascar. Its a medium-sized stork. Length: 97 cm; average body weight for males: 2.3 kg; for females: 1.9 kg. Plumage mainly pinkish-white with black wings and tail; bill yellow, blunt, and decurved at tip. Immature birds are greyish brown with dull greyish brown bill, dull orange face and brownish legs. The similar Painted Stork (Mycteria leucocephala) is an Asian bird.
The Yellow-billed Stork is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.
Yellow-billed storks are adaptive and intelligent. They have a fishing technique of using one foot to stir up the water to flush out prey. A quick muscular reflex in the neck enables yellow-billed storks to catch almost all of their food in the water. These storks do not socialize much with one another and tend to isolate themselves in swamps, muddy rivers and marshes. They breed nearly year round. The male chooses the location of the nest and works with the female to build it in 7-10 days. Two or three eggs are laid one at a time, two days apart, so the chicks hatch on different days about a month later.
Wild Animal Park Escondido Ca.