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Location where spotted : Quarry, during monsoon

Marathi Name : Chitrabalak

Physical Characteristics

• These black and white storks have a partially naked, orange head with a yellow, slightly curved bill. The wings and chest are black and white "checked." The wing feathers closest to the tail are pink. The males are slightly larger.
• Size of average adult
  • height: 3 feet
  • weight: 6.6 pounds
• Approximate life span is 28 years in captivity.

Diet

• Wild: fish
• At SCZ: prepackaged bird of prey diet, 2 kinds of smelt and mice

Behavior

• Young are able to call loudly, but by 18 months they become practically voiceless
• Search for fish in shallow waters with bill half open, sometimes using a wing to direct the fish toward the open bill
• Often nest in mixed colonies with other storks, ibises, spoonbills, cormorants and herons
• Nests are built of sticks and lined with leaves, males do most of the stick gathering
• Many ritualized displays are performed in order to find a mate, including bill snapping, preening and flying around
• Reproduction
  • sexual maturity: 4 years
  • breeding season: end of rainy season
  • incubation: 27 - 32 days
  • adults regurgitate food onto the floor of the nest, nestlings are shaded from the sun by a parent's partially opened wings, young obtain full adult plumage at 3 years

Environmental/Global

• Habitat: freshwater marshes, ponds and flooded fields
• Distribution: India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, eastern China, Thailand, Kampuchea and Vietnam

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