Greater Adjutant

The Greater Adjutant is a large wading bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. It formerly bred in southern Asia, mainly in India, extending east to Borneo, but is now restricted to two small breeding populations; mainly in Assam and Cambodia. Populations disperse widely after the breeding season. This large stork has a massive wedge-shaped bill, a bare head and a distinctive bare neck pouch. During the day, they soar in thermals along with vultures with whom they share the habit of scavenging. Although mainly feeding on carrion and offal, they will sometimes prey on vertebrates. They are named for the stiff military gait when walking on the ground. Large numbers once lived across Asia but have declined to the point of being endangered. The total population in 2008 was estimated at around a thousand. In the 19th Century, they were especially common in the city of Calcutta, where they were referred to as the Calcutta Adjutant, valued for their service as scavengers and used in the logo of the city municipal c

The Greater Adjutant is classified as Endangered (EN), considered to be facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild.

Nesting Ecology of the Greater Adjutant Stork in Assam, India The nesting ecology of the Greater Adjutant Stork (Leptoptilos dubius), the rarest stork in the world, was studied in the Brahmaputra Valley, Assam, India during 1994-97. About 90% of nests were built on the top of the canopy. Storks preferred to nest in compact colonies on large, widely branched trees with thin foliage cover and nearby food sources. More

The Greater Adjutant (Leptoptilos dubius) is a large wading bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. It formerly bred in southern Asia, mainly in India, extending east to Borneo, but is now restricted to two small breeding populations; mainly in Assam and Cambodia. Populations disperse widely after the breeding season. This large stork has a massive wedge-shaped bill, a bare head and a distinctive bare neck pouch. During the day, they soar in thermals along with vultures with whom they share the habit of scavenging. More

Greater Adjutant Leptoptilos dubius - In flight Greater Adjutant Photographer : More

During the early 1900s, Greater Adjutants were still reported as common in villages. Now they are found as breeding populations mostly only in Assam and Cambodia, totaling perhaps less than one thousand individuals. One point of good news is that a small breeding population has been recently discovered in the state of Bihar, India. But Assam still holds about 80 percent of the world's population. More

Videos and images Greater adjutant standing on branch This huge stork has a naked pink head, a very thick yellow bill and a low-hanging neck pouch. The neck ruff is white and, other than the pale grey leading edge of each wing, the rest of the greater adjutant’s body is dark grey. Juveniles have a ... More

Greater adjutant standing on branch Greater adjutant standing on branchPrint factsheet Facts - Kingdom Animalia Phylum Chordata Class Aves Order Ciconiiformes Family Ciconiidae Genus Leptoptilos (1) Size Length: 145 – 150 cm (2) More

Phaguni, a greater adjutant found its natural home after one month stay as a special guest at the Assam State Zoo. It was released on 21 March after a grand farewell at Dodora village located 15 kms from Guwahati city, the birth place of the bird, by forest officials of the Assam forest department, Conservationists and the local villagers. More

The Greater Adjutant breeds in tropical wetlands. It builds a stick nest in trees and lays 2-4 eggs which are incubated by both parents for 28-30 days to hatching. It often forms small colonies. The Greater Adjutant, like most of its relatives, feeds mainly on frogs and large insects, but also young birds, lizards and rodents. It will also eat carrion (dead animals) , for which its bare head and neck is an adaptation, and will feed in human refuse dumps. More

Greater AdjutantThe Adjutant is found throughout the greater part of India, is rare in the South, but extremely common in part of Northern India, and more especially in Bengal and North-eastern India. I never saw it in the Carnatic nor in Malabar; it is occasionally met with in Mysore, and is not rare in Hyderabad, thence becoming more common and abundant northwards. It spreads through Burmah to the Malayan peninsula. More

The last remaining major nesting sites for Greater Adjutant lay in Assam and Cambodia; they are all but gone from their previous stronghold of Myanmar. The Lesser Adjutant lives in much broader area, from India to Indonesia, but is not common anywhere. As so many other wetland species, both have greatly suffered from disappearance of their natural habitats. The Greater Adjutant is said to be a shy and retiring bird on remote locations, but is much less so near cities. More

Newly Discovered Greater Adjutant Stork Population Thriving in Bihar - While the Greater adjutant stork (Leptoptilos dubius) population of the world is seeing a general decline, a recently discovered population in Bihar has been growing steadily due to effective conservation efforts by Conservation Agencies. More

* Greater adjutant stork can grow to six feet tall, with a wingspan of up to eight feet. Lesser adjutant storks grow to four feet tall. * Adjutant storks often live in proximity to human populations, usually to their detriment. A related species, the marabou stork of Africa, is better able to tolerate human disturbance and so is faring better. More

New population of Greater Adjutant stork, world’s rarest, booming in India = 25/06/2008 12:25:34 birds/Adjutant_stork By Sheren Shrestha of the Wildlife Trust of India June 2008: While the world's Greater adjutant stork population is declining, a recently discovered population in Bihar has been growing steadily, says Arvind Mishra, member of the State Wildlife Board. More

The Greater Adjutant, Leptoptilos dubius is a large wading bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. It formerly bred in southern Asia from Pakistan and India, Sri Lanka east to Borneo, but is now restricted to two separate small breeding populations; in Assam and Cambodia. In winter, this species migrates south to Vietnam, Thailand and Burma. More

Yathin25 April 2007 @ 09:40 pm The Greater Adjutants of Guwahati There aren't many known places in the world to see this bird. Apparently, it was once very common but now down to a few hundred individuals. Guwahati, the capital of the North-Eastern state of Assam has one of the best known places to see this mysterious bird - it's garbage dump. The fish market at Ulbari is that place. More