Painter Painted Stork

Hello lovely readers, hope you are doing good and enjoying the rainy season. I thank each one of you for the following blog religiously it motivates me to come up with new topics every week. In past weeks we have seen various jewels of India so as to have a change of topic I decided to write on a lovely bird, I am sure you will enjoy the topic.

Rangeela Ratan

Painted Stork is a colorful bird hence I tagged it as a Rangeela Ratan, it is commonly found near a wetland. I have been following it from past 2 to 3 years and every time I found unique moments from this rangeela bird. The partnership started at Bhandup Pumping Station do you know this place? This place is well within our own Mumbai city. I know it is surprising for you but it is fact, the first time I saw this bird within the city and I got mesmerized by the style of this bird. Painted Stork is tall and colorful bird gives lovely frames to the photographers when it takes a leap. From day one, I fall in love with this bird and I started following in my visits.

As I said I love this bird but it is not one-sided love, Painted Stork loves me too 😝 ha ha ha I know you will be thinking what is this, How can it be true etc. the reason is that I need not go elsewhere to find this bird, now a day’s Painted Stork has started visiting a small wetland near my home (near T. S. Chanakya Maritime Institute). this means Stork is searching for me as well😝

From past few years, I have been visiting this place for Flamingo which is now becoming fruitful with other birds as well. This year in month of May I got super surprise with sighting of my love that is near home, I went for Flamingo in the morning where around 20 people like me were waiting for arrival of Flamingos with camera but I notice some unusual moment from this Rangeela bird at the same time when flocks of Flamingo arrived. This was testing time for me, whether to go for Flamingo or to catch Painted Stork, I was the only one who decided to go for it instead of Flamingo and guess what I was rewarded with superb frames with this colorful bird and that is too active fishing for 20 minutes. Let me tell you how it gave me a colorful frame while catches its prey, it immersed half open beaks in water and sweep it from side to side and snap up small fish, isn’t is unique? Of course, it is unique, you can check out pictures to understand and co-relate the story.

If you want the best frames than always to go for action even it is with a common bird, it will give you uncommon moments, which will make your frame unique. This is the reason why I love this bird the most, the way it go for fishing it offers wonderful opportunity which is like a special treat from the Mother Nature. Now after such a wonderful experience let me tell you some facts about this lovely bird, let us move to the next section.

I am a Painter

The painted stork is a large and fabulously colorful water bird with a striking wing pattern. although a drab brown when young, as an adult the painted stork displays primarily white plumage, with a bright pink tinge towards the tail and a black band of feathers across the chest

The painted stork has a long, yellow-orange bill, a vivid yellow-orange face, and pink legs. This beautiful bird also has an incredibly long neck, which likes most other storks, it holds outstretched during its elegant, soaring flight

It is found in the wetlands of the plains of tropical Asia south of the Himalayas in the Indian Subcontinent and extending into Southeast Asia

They prefer freshwater wetlands in all seasons, but also use irrigation canals and crop fields, particularly flooded rice fields during the monsoon

They feed mainly on small fish, which they sense by touch while slowly sweeping their half-open bill from side to side while it held submerged. They walk slowly and also disturb the water with their feet to flush fish

Painted storks breed on trees either in mixed colonies along with other water birds or by themselves.The platform nests are typically placed in a tree on an island or in an otherwise undisturbed area with colonies consisting of thousands of nests