The Painted Stork (Mycteria leucocephala) is a “near-threatened” species found in South and Southeast Asia, part of a genus of 4 species in Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Today, its total population is estimated at 16,000–24,000. Its current range is discontinuous, likely due to persecution and loss of its wetland habitat. In India, there are distinct populations in the north and south. Abdul Jamil Urfi has been studying Painted Storks for 35 years and published a comprehensive monograph on this species in 2011 (The Painted Stork: Ecology and Conservation, Springer). His new book adds information he has gained since then, focusing on India.
Much of Urfi’s research has been at the National Zoological Park in Delhi, where a colony has conveniently occupied trees around some of the ponds since 1960. Completely wild, but easy to watch at a distance of a few meters, the storks are...