Lesser Adjutant Stork
Leptoptilos javanicus
Range description 4
Leptoptilos javanicus has an extensive range across South and South-East Asia (BirdLife International 2001). Substantial populations remain only in Cambodia (over 600 known pairs at Tonle Sap and the northern forests [Goes in press] and a national total estimated withing the range 1,500-3,500 pairs [Bird et al. 2007, Goes in press, S. Mahood in litt. 2013], with probably many more as recently as the early 1990s [R. Timmins in litt. 2013]), India (mostly in Assam, with c.2,000 birds[Choudhury 2000], West Bengal and Bihar, where 42 nests had breeding confirmed in 2004 [Mishra et al. 2004], but present across much of the country [Rahmani 2012]) and Indonesia (c.2,000 in 1993, the majority on Sumatra, but apparently far fewer since [M Iqbal in litt. 2013]). There are smaller breeding populations in Nepal (300-1,000 birds, most in the east, with 188-268 birds in and around Royal Chitwan National Park in 2009 [C. Inskipp and H. S. Baral in litt. 2013]),Malaysia (c.500 individuals; Li et al. 2007), Sri Lanka, Bangladesh (18 adults at a colony in Thakurgaon district in 2012 and small numbers of non-breeders in the Sundarbans; Chowdhury and Sourav 2012), Myanmar (small numbers in many areas; Rahmani 2012), Laos, Brunei, Vietnam and Thailand (very small numbers and possibly only one remaining breeding site; Rahmani 2012). It has also been recorded in Bhutan (Choudhury 2005), but is thought to be extinct in China and in Singapore.
Formerly common and widespread, it has declined dramatically across its range and has been extirpated from many areas in recent decades owing a variety of threats including the persistent and unregulated harvesting of eggs and chicks at nesting colonies, loss of nesting trees and loss and degradation of wetland habitats. However, some populations at least seem to be relatively stable, e.g. numbers in the Matang Mangrove Forest, Malaysia have remained relatively constant for 20 years (Li et al. 2006), and numbers are increasing at Prek Toal, Cambodia owing to nest and colony protection (S. Mahood in litt. 2013). The global population may previously have been underestimated and may number c.5,500-10,000 mature individuals
Sources and Credits
- (c) Brian Gratwicke, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3376/3594305945_b173972474.jpg
- (c) Sumeet Moghe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3482/5726208405_de235cb11d.jpg
- (c) Koshyk, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/Leptoptilos_javanicus.jpg
- (c) International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/34537865
