Storm's Stork (Ciconia stormi) lives in mangrove forests across Southeast Asia. It feeds on fish and crustaceans. Its conservation status is Endangered.
Fascinating facts about the Storm's Stork
- Standing 75-91 cm tall, Storm's stork looks like a sleek black-and-white tower, but its chicks grow at breakneck speed, doubling their newborn size in just under a month. By day 30 they sport glossy green-tinged black feathers, and by day 45 they already resemble adults, though still smaller. Full plumage arrives at 52-57 days, and fledging occurs around 60 days in the wild (up to 90 days in captivity).
- Storm's stork builds its platform nest high above riverbanks, typically 19-30 m up, often in the fork of a Dipterocarpus tree; one Sumatra nest was measured at 8.3 m in an 18 m-tall Rhizophora mucronata. The outer diameter spans 30-50 cm, depth 10-15 cm, using sticks 15-60 cm long and 0.5-1.5 cm thick, plus soft grass, down and even 2-4 cm leaflets from Xylocarpus. These lofty, well-lined cradles protect eggs, the sole measured egg was 60.1 mm long and 41.9 mm wide, from ground predators and floodwaters.
- When hunting, Storm's stork snatches fish 5-7 cm long weighing 10-30 g, frogs, insect larvae and even 10-15 cm earthworms, delivering meals to chicks every 2-4 hours in June. Parents travel 2-3 km from the nest along shady riverbanks, preferring slow, deliberate steps in shallow water while keeping their neck tucked. This foraging range spreads the birds across a mosaic of pools, swamps and oxbow lakes, making them sensitive to any drop in freshwater prey caused by sediment or temperature shifts from logging.
- Habitat loss is crushing Storm's stork: from 1982-1997 two-thirds of South Sumatra's swamp forest vanished, Kalimantan shed almost 25 % of its evergreen forest (1985-1997) and Sumatra lost nearly 30 % of its 1985 cover. The 1986 Chiew Larn Dam flooded vast lowland forest, wiping out the known Thai breeding site. Because the bird is unlikely to move to higher elevations, each cleared hectare erodes its food base and nesting sites, pushing the already tiny population toward the brink.
- Storm's stork may be the planet's rarest stork, with fewer than 1,750 individuals roaming the lowland forests of Malaysia, Indonesia and southern Thailand. Its numbers keep slipping as deforestation gnaws at its home.
Sources
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At a glance
RangeSoutheast Asia
HabitatMangrove forests
DietFish and crustaceans
About the Storm's Stork
In the misty dawn of Southeast Asia's tropical wetlands, the Storm's Stork emerges as a phantom, its slender silhouette gliding effortlessly across the murky waters with a slow, deliberate beat of its wings. With each languid stride, it probes the depths with its sharp, yellow bill, a master of stealth and patience in a world where stillness is a virtue. As it moves through its domain, the Storm's Stork exudes an air of quiet majesty, its very existence a poignant reminder of the fragility and beauty of the natural world.
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