Waterbird foods: Black-necked Stork

Despite their large size and declining population, Black-necked Storks have received relatively little scientific attention. The most prominent study is that carried out by Gopinathan Maheswaran in the managed lakes in Dudwa Tiger Reserve in northern Uttar Pradesh. The storks there were seen to eat fish as their major food.

The unmanaged wetlands amid agricultural fields in western Uttar Pradesh have the largest known population of this species. Here, observations show that fish is not likely their major food - frogs (and reptiles) are! The photographs above show (from top) newly fledged juveniles have already learnt to catch frogs, snails sometimes figure in the diet of juveniles, and large bull frogs make for a great meal and are literally beaten to death by adults before they are swallowed.

(Photo information: top: 21 Jan 2009, Etawah district; middle: 7 Apr 2009, Etawah district; bottom: 12 Apr 2009, Etawah district. I put together all the observations I had made over the years of food items that Black-necked Storks ate, and now have a note in the journal Forktail in case you are really interested.)

Waterbird foods: Asian Openbill and Little Heron

Wetlands offer a range of foods to birds, and the monsoon is a fantastic season to observe birds getting their goodies. In this entry, two species are shown doing what they do best.

Asian Openbills are super-specialized in their food habits - they almost exclusively eat the large snails associated with flooded rice paddies. It is believed that this stork species has increased in numbers and spread closely following the increase of rice cultivation in Asia. Above, you can see a stork getting hold of a nice-sized snail, prising open the snail's lid, and pulling out the meaty snail for a doubtlessly yummy early morning snack.

The Little Heron (variously also referred to as the Green Heron and Little Green Heron) is not common in the inland areas of northern India. A neat, compact little heron, this species is an expert fisherbird. Above, a heron catches and hangs on to a fish beside a rice field - good start for a breakfast that will no doubt include many more fishies.

(Photograph information: Asian OpenbillLs: 8 Aug 2009, Mainpuri district; Little Heron: 5 Aug 2009, Bhadohi district.)

Its clean-up time!

Preen, dip, bathe, and scratch! These are the various ways in which birdies take good care of their precious feathers. Here are a few examples taken during clean-up time!

Preening is so very time-consuming! Here an Indian Skimmer (top) uses its unusual, spectacular beak to comb through feathers, and a Silverbill is busy at it while also showing off the preen gland (just above the tail) from where birds get an "oil" to keep their feathers ship-shape!


A bath can be a serene experience, like the Shikra in the water. Else it can be boisterous with water flying everwhere: for some Comb Ducks, one duck's bathwater is another's drink, apparently!

And finally, the soothing scratch! Here a Silverbill, a Black-necked Stork juvenile, and a Sarus Crane find out the real meaning of the phrase "for every itch, there is a scratch"!

(Photograph information: Skimmer - Etawah district, Apr 9, 2009; Silverbill preening - lucknow, Nov 27, 2008; Shikra - Barabanki, Nov 23, 2008; Comb Duck - Etawah, Apr 9, 2009; Silverbill scratch - Barabanki, Nov 25, 2008; Black-necked Stork - Mainpuri, Apr 7, 2009; Sarus Crane - Etawah, Feb 12, 2009. Thanks to Satish for the scratch-itch phrase!)

Black-necked Stork allopreening

Remember "allopreening"? One bird preens the other as opposed to itself. See the Munia blog entry for an example. This behaviour has been studied by ornithologists quite a bit and general consensus is that it serves to reinforce bonding and is therefore commonly seen during courtship. Some groups of birds allopreen more than others - Black-necked Storks are not among those that are known to indulge in this behaviour. The photo above shows 4-5 month old Black-necked Stork chicks allopreening. In nearly 8 years of observing this species, this is the first time I saw this behaviour. Chicks in the nest are terribly aggressive to each other as they fight for parents' attention and compete for food. Wonder why they need to indulge in this behaviour after fledging from the nest. (Photo taken in Etawah district, Apr 7, 2009)