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The painted stork is a large, eye-catching, colonially nesting wading bird found across large parts of South and South East Asia, particularly India and Sri Lanka. Listed as near-threatened by various conservation agencies, the painted stork is a flagship of its endangered habitat, wetlands.
This book is an exploration of the biology, status, distribution, sexual size dimorphism, mating patterns, growth and development patterns, and food and foraging ecology of this fascinating species. It also addresses the stork-human interface and covers many myths and legends associated with storks. Because this bird is a colonial nester, it is an ideal model for studies attempting to unravel the mysteries of avian coloniality and its evolution. Finally, the book discusses various conservation aspects, using the Delhi Zoo colony of painted storks as a case study on the potential for a long-term conservation monitoring program in India.
Foreword
Preface
Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 Distribution and status
Chapter 3 Coloniality in storks
Chapter 4 Life in a colony -- case studies from some North Indian heronries
Chapter 5 Nesting Ecology
Chapter 6 Growth stages of the Painted Stork
Chapter 7 Food and foraging
Chapter 8 Painted Stork and man
Chapter 9 Conservation issues
References
Appendices
Author Index
Subject Index
Abdul Jamil Urfi is an Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Biology, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India. He studied fish physiology for his PhD but subsequently switched over to the field of Ornithology. He did post-doctoral research on the behavioral ecology of the Oystercatcher at NERC ITE Furzebrook in England. Later, in India, he was involved with environmental education as a staff member of CEE, Ahmedabad, where he also carried out a number of studies on reptiles and snakes. The painted stork has been the focus of his research for the past two decades. Besides several research papers and articles, he has also written two books, Birds Beyond Watching (Universities Press, India) and Birds of India, A Literary Anthology (Oxford University Press, India).
