Bird Guide

Painted Stork vs Wood Stork

Painted Stork (Mycteria leucocephala)

Painted Stork

Mycteria leucocephala

Huge3.2 kgWetland

This large stork has a heavy yellow beak with a down-curved tip that gives it a resemblance to an ibis. The head of the adult is bare and orange or reddish in colour. The long tertials are tipped in bright pink and at rest they extend over the back and rump. There is a distinctive black breast band with white scaly markings. The band continues into the under-wing coverts and the white tips of the black coverts give it the appearance of white stripes running across the under-wing lining. The rest of the body is whitish in adults and the primaries and secondaries are black with a greenish gloss.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Recording: Halyn Betchkal · CC0
Photo: Sharon Reid · CC BY 4.0
Wood Stork (Mycteria americana)

Wood Stork

Mycteria americana

Huge2.6 kgWetland

The adult wood stork is a large bird which stands 83 to 115 cm (33–45 in) tall with a wingspan of 140 to 180 cm (55–71 in). The male typically weighs 2.5 to 3.3 kg (5.5–7.3 lb), with a mean weight of 2.7 kg (6.0 lb); the female weighs 2.0 to 2.8 kg (4.4–6.2 lb), with a mean weight of 2.42 kg (5.3 lb). Another estimate puts the mean weight at 2.64 kg (5.8 lb). The head and neck of the adult are bare, and the scaly skin is a dark grey. The black downward-curved bill is long and very wide at the base.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Barry · CC BY 4.0

Learn this pair in BeakBrain

Photo and call practice, free in any browser.

Play BeakBrain

Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Painted Stork and Wood Stork.