greater adjutant
leptoptilos dubius latin

In flight, the folded neck can appear like the pouch of the Greater Adjutant.

Ratanakiri is an important site for the conservation of endangered birds, including the giant ibis and the greater adjutant.

The Greater Adjutant (Leptoptilos dubius) is a member of the stork family, Ciconiidae.

Greater Adjutant (Leptoptilos dubius)

With the exception of the tarsus length, the standard measurements of the Greater Adjutant are on average greater than that of other stork species.

The Greater Adjutant breeds during winter in colonies that may include other large waterbirds such as the Spot-billed Pelican.

It is however more closely associated with wetland habitats where it is solitary and is less likely to scavenge than the related Greater Adjutant.

The Greater Adjutant is usually seen singly or in small groups as it stalks about in shallow lakes or drying lake beds and garbage dumps.

The Greater Adjutant is omnivorous and although mainly a scavenger, it preys on frogs and large insects and will also take birds, reptiles and rodents.

In Victorian times the Greater Adjutant was known as the Gigantic Crane and later as the Asiatic Marabou.

The Greater Adjutant is evaluated as Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Among the birds seen here are: the Greater Adjutant Stork, Pelican, Siberian Crane and the Whistling Teal.

The list of extinct wetland birds include spotbill pelican, pelican, scavenger vulture, Bengal florican, pinkheaded duck, greater adjutant and king vulture.

Rare migratory storks and cranes are also seen wintering in the park (Lesser Adjutant, Greater Adjutant, Black-necked Stork, Asian Openbill).

These species include the spot-billed pelican, greater Adjutant, Bengal Florican, Darter, Grey-headed Fish Eagle, and the Manchurian Reed Warbler.

While no weights have been published for wild birds, the Greater Adjutant is among the largest of living storks, with published measurements overlapping with those of the Jabiru, Saddle-billed Stork and Marabou Stork.

The Sittang River in Burma was said by E W Oates to have "millions" of pelicans in 1877 and in 1929 E C Stuart Baker reported that they were still nesting in thousands along with Greater Adjutant Storks:

The state is the last refuge for numerous other endangered species such as Golden Langur (Trachypithecus geei), White-winged Wood Duck or 'Deohanh' (Cairina scutulata), Bengal Florican, Black-breasted Parrotbill, Pygmy Hog, Greater Adjutant and so on.

Once found widely across southern Asia, mainly in India but extending east to Borneo, the Greater Adjutant is now restricted to a much smaller range with only two small breeding populations; in India with the largest colony in Assam and the other in Cambodia.

The important threatened species are Masked Finfoot, Indian Skimmer, Black-headed Ibis, Greater Adjutant, Lesser Adjutant, Baikal Teal, Baer's Pochard, Ferruginous Pochard, Wood snipe, Norman's Green shank and Spoon-billed Sandpiper.

Birds such as the Lesser White-fronted Goose, Ferruginous Duck, Baer's Pochard duck and Lesser Adjutant, Greater Adjutant, Black-necked Stork, and Asian Openbill stork migrate from Central Asia to the park during winter.

The Greater Adjutant (Leptoptilos dubius) is a member of the stork family, Ciconiidae.

Greater Adjutant (Leptoptilos dubius)