The Storm’s Storks, Ciconia stormi, are large, up to 91cm long, storks with black and white plumages, a red bill, orange bare facial skin, red legs, and yellow orbital skin. Males and females look alike. The young have duller plumage and bare skin.
This little-known species is found in undisturbed forest and freshwater habitats in Sumatra, Mentawai Islands, Borneo, and Peninsular Malaysia. One of its strongholds is in southeast Sumatra, with the remaining populations confined to Kalimantan and Brunei. While in Peninsular Malaysia only one very small population and scattered individuals left.
The Storm’s Storks are solitary birds. Its diet consists mainly of fish. The female lays two eggs in a stick platform nest high in a tree canopy.
The Storm’s Stork was formerly considered a subspecies of the Woolly-necked Stork.
With a world population of less than 500 individuals, and ongoing habitat loss and hunting in some areas, the Storm’s Stork is classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
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