Yellow-billed Stork

  • SCIENTIFIC NAME: Mycteria ibis

  • SWAHILI NAME: korongo domo-njano

Voracious nestlings eat so much that yellow-billed storks earned the German nickname Nimmersatt—never full.

Yellow-billed Stork

Yellow-billed Stork

Type

Bird

Daily Rhythm

Diurnal

Diet

Carnivorous

Conservation Status

least concern

Weight

1200 – 2400 g

Size

Length: 95 - 105 cm
Wingspan: 150-165 cm

Yellow-billed Stork

Trivia Question

How often do yellow-billed storks build new nests?

Correct!

Other birds take materials from the old nest to build their own nests, so they often need to start from scratch.

Social Structure

Although yellow-billed storks can be found in the company of other birds, they do not typically form large flocks.

Communication

Experts have compared their nesting calls to a squeaking hinge.

Behavior

Yellow-billed storks prefer wetland habitats, where they partially open their bills in the muddy waters while searching for food; sometimes they submerge their entire heads. They follow hippopotamus and crocodiles to capture potential prey that the larger animals have disturbed. When they are finished foraging, they bask on sandbanks with other wading birds such as herons and spoonbills.

Conservation

Least concern

Diet

Yellow-billed storks feed on frogs, small fish, and other aquatic animals.

Breeding

Monogamous pairs breed in colonies with herons and other water birds. A colony usually is established in a tree, often over water, and has from ten to twenty pairs, but some can have as many as fifty. The parents construct stick platforms and incubate the eggs for around a month. Ravenous chicks are fed by both parents and fledge around 55 days after they hatch.

Friends & Foes

Yellow-billed storks sometimes nest in towns, indicating they do not fear humans. They can become the prey of Nile crocodiles, and African fish eagles will raid their nests for eggs.

Population in Kenya

Yellow-billed storks are found throughout much of Kenya.

Range & Habitat

Yellow-billed storks live in much of sub-Saharan Africa.

They prefer wetland habitats such as swamps, estuaries, riverbanks, rice paddies, lagoons, and mudflats. They are sometimes also found in savanna woodland.

Did you know?

Yellow-billed stork parents sometimes use their open wings to shade their chicks and keep them cool.