Yellow Billed Stork In Flight #2
by Timothy Hacker
Title
Yellow Billed Stork In Flight #2
Artist
Timothy Hacker
Medium
Photograph - Photographs - Watermark Will Not Appear On Prints.
Description
The yellow-billed stork (Mycteria ibis), sometimes also called the wood stork or wood ibis, is a large African wading stork species in the family Ciconiidae. It is widespread in regions south of the Sahara and also occurs in Madagascar.
The yellow-billed stork is closely related to 3 other species in the genus Mycteria: the American woodstork (Mycteria americana), the milky stork (Mycteria cinerea) and the painted stork (Mycteria leucocephala). It is classified as belonging to one clade with these 3 other species because they all display remarkable homologies in behavior and morphology. In one analytical study of feeding and courtship behaviours of the wood-stork family, M.P. Kahl attributed the same general ethology to all members of the genus Mycteria, with few species-specific variations. These four species are collectively referred to as the wood-storks, which should not be confused with one alternative common name (wood-stork) for the yellow-billed stork.
Before it was established that the yellow-billed stork was closely related to the American woodstork, the former was classified as belonging to the genus Ibis, together with the milky stork and painted stork. However, the yellow-billed stork has actually long been recognised as a true stork and along with the other 3 related stork species, it should not strictly be called an ibis.
It is a medium-sized stork standing 90–105 cm (35–41 in) tall. The body is white with a short black tail that is glossed green and purple when freshly moulted. The bill is deep yellow, slightly decurved at the end and has a rounder cross-section than in other stork species outside the Mycteria. Feathers extend onto the head and neck just behind the eyes, with the face and forehead being covered by deep red skin. Both sexes are similar in appearance, but the male is larger and has a slightly longer heavier bill. Males and females weigh approximately 2.3 kg (5.1 lb) and 1.9 kg (4.2 lb) respectively.
Coloration becomes more vivid during the breeding season. In the breeding season, the plumage is coloured pink on the upperwings and back;[3] the ordinarily brown legs also turn bright pink; the bill becomes a deeper yellow and the face becomes a deeper red.
Juveniles are greyish-brown with a dull, partially bare, orange face and a dull yellowish bill. The legs and feet are brown and feathers all over the body are blackish-brown. At fledging, salmon-pink colouration in the underwings begins to develop and after about one year, the plumage is greyish-white. Flight feathers on the tail and wing also become black. Later, the pink colouration typical of adult plumage begins to appear.
These storks walk with a high-stepped stalking gait on the ground of shallow water and their approximate walking rate has been recorded as 70 steps per minute. They fly with alternating flaps and glides, with the speed of their flaps averaging 177–205 beats per minute. They usually flap only for short journeys and often fly in a soaring and gliding motion over several kilometres for locomotion between breeding colonies or roosts and feeding sites. By soaring on thermals and gliding by turns, they can cover large distances without wasting much energy. On descending from high altitudes, this stork has been observed to dive deeply at high speeds and flip over and over from side to side, hence showing impressive aerobatics. It even appears to enjoy these aerial stunts.
This species is generally non-vocal, but utters hissing falsetto screams during social displays in the breeding season. These storks also engage in bill clattering and an audible “woofing” wing beat at breeding colonies Nestlings make a loud continual monotonous braying call to beg parental adults for food.
The yellow-billed stork occurs primarily in Eastern Africa, but is widely distributed in areas extending from Senegal and Somalia down to South Africa and in some regions of western Madagascar. During one observation of a mixed species bird colony on the Tana River in Kenya, it was found to be the commonest species there, with 2000 individuals being counted at once.
It does not generally migrate far, at least not out of its breeding range; but usually makes short migratory movements which are influenced by rainfall. It makes local movements in Kenya and has also been found to migrate from North to South Sudan with the rainy season. It may also migrate regularly to and from South Africa. However, little is actually known about this bird’s general migratory movements.
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December 31st, 2018
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