Milky Stork

About the Milky Stork

The milky stork (Mycteria cinerea) is a stork species inhabiting predominantly mangroves in Southeast Asia. It is native to Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia. It is currently included in the genus Mycteria, is around 91–97 cm (36–38 in) tall, with a wingspan of 43.5–50 cm (17.1–19.7 in) and a tail around 14.5–17 cm (5.7–6.7 in). Its plumage is white apart from a few feathers at the wings and tail. Since the 1980's, the global milky stork population has declined from 5,000 to 2,000 individuals due to habitat destruction, overfishing and illegal smuggling of chicks. It is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List.

The milky stork was formerly placed in the genus Ibis, with the binomial name Ibis cinereus, but is now included in the Mycteria due to large similarities in appearance and behaviour to the three other storks in this genus (the wood stork, yellow-billed stork, and painted stork). Phylogenetic studies based on DNA hybridization and cytochrome oxidase b have demonstrated that the milky stork shares a clade with other Mycteria, and forms a sister pair of species with the painted stork.

This medium stork stands... Wikipedia →