Data Zone
Justification of Red List category
This species has a large range that extends from South Asia through to South-East Asia, with a population trend that appears to be increasing. In some parts (especially South-East Asia), this is due to concerted conservation action and the protection of breeding colonies. Because numbers are increasing, and the population is estimated to number more than 20,000 mature individuals, the extinction risk of this this species is considered very low. Accordingly, it is considered Least Concern.
Population justification
The population size is not well known. Perennou et al. (1994) estimated populations of 15,000 individuals in South Asia, and 'fewer than 10,000 individuals' in South-East Asia, with an estimated global total of 15,000-25,000 individuals. Wetlands International (2022) now estimate 25,000 individuals in South Asia (although there is little indication that this more than arbitrary) and retain the estimate of 5,000-10,000 in South-East Asia between 1987 and 1990. Few additional data are available from India, however a report of 4,000 nesting birds at a single location (Veerapuram Village) on the Andhra Pradesh-Karnataka border (V. Santharam in litt. 2023) suggests that the estimate for South Asia from Wetlands International (2022) may be pessimistic. A wider bound of 15,000-50,000 is therefore used here. There is also additional empirical evidence to suggest that the South-East Asia estimate used by Wetlands International (2022) is too small; for example, more than 3,000 pairs (thus 6,000 mature individuals) were counted in Cambodia in 2021 (WCS unpublished data). Consequently, it is probable that the total number of birds (including non-breeding individuals) in South-East Asia is now substantially more than 7,000, and may even exceed 10,000. In the absence of other data, the values collated here are accepted, albeit with low confidence. Thus, the global population is suspected to number somewhere in a broad bracket of 20,000-60,000 mature individuals. Better data, especially from South Asia, where this species is not confined to wetland habitats, but also uses farmland and agricultural landscapes, should be a priority for future research.
Trend justification
Although numbers counted fluctuate annually (largely in response to observer effort/coverage, as well as annual shifts in distribution), numbers counted in the Asian Waterbird Census show no obvious trend (Li et al. 2009, Kar et al. 2018). Data (International Wetlands Census) from Cambodia and Thailand (see Langendoen et al. 2021) show an increase in population size for 2011-2020 (1.249) and 2002-2020 (1.0436), leading Wetlands International (2022) to regard the South-East Asian subpopulation to be increasing overall. Although the population in Malaysia (centred around Kuala Lumpur) is estimated to be increasing exponentially (Zakaria and Nor 2019), this is considered feral (Puan et al. 2020, MNS Bird Conservation Council 2021).
The trend of the South Asian population is uncertain, with no empirical trend from Wetlands International since. However, in northern India there has been no evidence for recent declines (G. Sundar in litt. 2016) and numbers counted and published via the Asian Waterbird Census have shown no obvious trend (Wetlands International South Asia 2020). In Kerala, the last two decades has seen a large influx of the species into wetlands, where they are now breeding (e.g. Moses 2015); and recent trend data from Keoladeo National Park show signs of population recovery (Dwevedi et al. 2021). There are, however, some reports of local declines in Maharashtra (G. Jathar in litt. 2023). It is acknowledged that these sources do not cover every facet of this species' conservation status, exhibiting a particular bias to wetland habitats (to which this species is not confined, being readily found in agricultural landscapes: eBird 2023, G. Sundar in litt. 2023). Nonetheless, they are suspected of being representative of broader global trends, and the noted range expansions in both South and South-East Asia indicate genuine population recovery throughout. Consequently, the global population is inferred to be slowly increasing.
Endemic to South and South-East Asia (range states discussed broadly west to east). In Pakistan, principally confined to the Indus Delta region, chiefly in wetland areas south of Karachi, although its true distribution/abundance is obfuscated by low effort (eBird 2023). Occurs effectively throughout India (including far from water), although is commonest in the west and south, but only narrowly in southernmost Nepal (chiefly in summer). Common and widespread in Sri Lanka. In Bangladesh, rather sparsely distributed but with concentrations along the Padma (especially near Rajshahi) and more sporadically in the Sundarbans. Scarce too in Myanmar, chiefly along the Ayeyarwady River and Delta. Increasingly widespread in Thailand, although with records concentrated around the Gulf of Thailand and Bangkok. In Lao PDR formally more widespread and there appear to be no very recent records (Timmins et al. in prep., eBird 2023); nonetheless, wanderers may occur in the country's far south. In Cambodia widespread in suitable habitat, with breeding concentrations around Tonle Sap. In Viet Nam, frequent records from only the south, but occasional records in Xuan Thuy National Park suggest it may be more widespread. Wanderers have occasionally reached China, but there is no evidence it is anything but a vagrant here. In Peninsular Malaysia, there is a population centred around Kuala Lumpur that has originated from escapes, with a second population at the Peninsular's southernmost tip, where wanderers from a second escaped population (which may at this point, be near joining) in Singapore occasionally cross the border (Puan et al. 2020). There is significant concern that these escaped population may stray to neighbouring Indonesia and interbreed with the Endangered Mycteria cinerea (Baveja et al. 2019). In time, the expansion of native birds from Thailand may reach Malaysia.
It frequents a wide range of open habitats, not just wetlands. Freshwater habitats used include marshes, lakes, reservoirs, flooded fields, rice paddies, irrigation channels, swamp forest and river banks. It also uses farmland, especially where close to water. More occasionally, it visits intertidal mudflats (especially in Thailand) and saltpans.
The global population trend of this species is thought to be increasing, such that any threat is unlikely to driving global population declines. Nonetheless, locally threats do remain for this species, especially in South-East Asia where habitat loss, disturbance, pollution, wetland drainage and hunting all remain threats of varying extents. Escaped populations of this species in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore pose a risk to the genetic integrity of Milky Stork M. cinerea, especially if they cross over into the latter's stronghold on Sumatra (Baveja et al. 2019). In South Asia, some nesting sites are threatened by development projects. Historically, hunting was considered the principal threat to this species (especially in South-East Asia), and this is thought to have led to its extirpation as a breeding species in Lao PDR (Timmins et al. in press) historically and, more recently, significant declines in Cambodia until the early 2000s.
Conservation Actions Underway
Landscape-scale monitoring of breeding and foraging populations on agricultural areas in South Asia has been coordinated by the International Crane Foundation and the Nature Conservation Foundation since 2011 (G. Sundar in litt. 2016). It occurs in a number of protected areas but a large number also occur in agricultural areas with no formal designation. Monitoring is captured by several schemes including State of India's Birds (which uses complete eBird checklists from which to derive trends) and Wetlands International (who mostly use the Asian Waterbird Census data). It is classified as a Rare Species under Cambodian law (Visal and Mahood 2015). Since 2004 the colony at Prek Toal, Tonle Sap Lake, Cambodia, has been successfully protected and monitored by MoE staff who work with former egg collectors. Breeding numbers have increased considerably in response, from c. 1,000 nests in 2004, to over 3,000 in 2021 (WCS unpublished data).
Text account compilers
Berryman, A., Mahood, S.
Contributors
Jathar, G., Mahood, S., Santharam, V., Sundar, G., Urfi, A.J. & vanZalinge, R.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Painted Stork Mycteria leucocephala. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/painted-stork-mycteria-leucocephala on 23/11/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 23/11/2024.