Wood Stork (Mycteria americana)

OTHER NAMES: Flinthead, Stonehead, Ironhead, Gourdhead, Preacher
Latin Etymology:  Mycteria ("nose/snout") americana ("of America")

Adult Wood Stork (Mycteria americana) at Tarcoles, Costa Rica - November 2025

Featured Subspecies: N/A
Weight: 2-3.3kg  /  Height: 83-115cm  /  Wingspan: 140-180cm
NO UK STATUS / IUCN Red List: Least Concern 

A species largely found from Nicaragua downwards, but also with colonies in Florida and Cuba, making it the most Northerly distributed Stork of the Americas. It requires large trees near water for esting, particularly being associated with estuaries. It often hunts non visually, using it's bill to detect prey by touch in murkey waters.

Related Species:
Order: Ciconiiformes
Family: Ciconidae
Genus: Mycteria
SUBSPECIES: none - monotypic 

 - Sighting Locations -

COSTA RICA - Spanish - Tántalo Americano

A locally common resident.
 - COSTA RICA 2025 TRIP: Seen at Tarcoles

Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto

.

Painted Stork (Mycteria leucocephala)

OTHER NAMES: N/A

Latin Etymology: Mycteria ("nose/snout") leucocephala ("white head") 

Four Adult Painted Stork (Mycterua leucocephala) at Prek Toal, Cambodia - February 2019

Featured Subspecies: N/A
Weight: 2-3.5kg  /  Wingspan: 150-160cm  /  Height: 93-102cm
NO UK STATUS / IUCN Red List: Near Threatened 

I must admit, seeing Painted Stork in Malaysia was a bit of a pleasant accident - we pulled over at a restaurant at a fairly random road near Kuala Lumpur Airport and four of these colourful storks circled overhead.  For the listing purists, these birds wouldn't count however - Malaysia has a bit of a more lax attitude to free-flying birds in zoos and collections and in this case these birds have gone on to establish a feral colony in Selangor near Kuala Lumpur Airport where these birds were seen.  I saw a further individual on a pond near the road Malacca on the Northern outskirts of Kuala Lumpur but this is near to the free-flying zoo population so probably from there.  The Painted Stork is one of the more common Stork species in Asia, however it is suffering declines due to human disturbance - however unfortunately it itself is a cause of conservation problems for Milky Stork - a similar species that is native to Malaysia.  On our later trip to Cambodia, truely wild Painted Stork were a frequently abundant bird in many locations.

Related Species:
Order: Ciconiiformes
Family: Ciconidae
Genus: Mycteria
Subspecies: none - monotypic 

 - Sighting Locations -

CAMBODIA - Khmer - រនាលពណ៌ (The colour palette")

A fairly common, and locally abundant resident

 - CAMBODIA/SINGAPORE 2019 TRIP: Seen at Florican Grassland Reserve,  Phnom Krom and in huge abundance at Prek Toal

MALAYSIA - Malay - Upeh Sawah ("Field Stork")

Feral populations exist in Selangor province and possibly along the Singapore straits.

 - MALAYSIA/SINGAPORE 2016 TRIP: A flock of four seen circling in Selangor Province near Kuala Lumpur Airport. 

Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto .