page_title: Greater adjutant
section_title: Breeding
hierarchical_section_title: Greater adjutant / Behaviour and ecology / Breeding
caption_attribution_description: English: An adjutant stork, Leptoptilos dubius
context_page_description: The greater adjutant is a member of the stork family, Ciconiidae. Its genus includes the lesser adjutant of Asia and the marabou stork of Africa. Once found widely across southern Asia, mainly in India but extending east to Borneo, the greater adjutant is now restricted to a much smaller range with only three breeding populations; two in India, with the largest colony in Assam, a smaller one around Bhagalpur; and another breeding population in Cambodia. They disperse widely after the breeding season. This large stork has a massive wedge-shaped bill, a bare head and a distinctive neck pouch. During the day, it soars in thermals along with vultures with whom it shares the habit of scavenging. They feed mainly on carrion and offal; however, they are opportunistic and will sometimes prey on vertebrates. The English name is derived from their stiff "military" gait when walking on the ground. Large numbers once lived in Asia, but they have declined to the point of endangerment. The total population in 2008 was estimated at around a thousand individuals.
context_section_description: The greater adjutant breeds during winter in colonies that may include other large waterbirds such as the spot-billed pelican. The nest is a large platform of twigs placed at the end of a near-horizontal branch of a tall tree. Nests are rarely placed in forks near the center of a tree, allowing the birds to fly easily from and to the nests. In the Nagaon nesting colony in Assam, tall Alstonia scholaris and Anthocephalus cadamba were favourite nest trees. The beginning of the breeding season is marked by several birds congregating and trying to occupy a tree. While crowding at these sites, male birds mark out their nesting territories, chasing away others and frequently pointing their bill upwards while clattering them. They may also arch their body and hold their wings half open and drooped. When a female perches nearby, the male plucks fresh twigs and places it before her. The male may also grasp the tarsus of the female with the bill or hold his bill close to her in a preening gesture. A female that has paired holds the bill and head to the breast of the male and the male locks her by holding his bill over her neck. Other displays include simultaneous bill raising and lowering by a pair. The clutch, usually of three or four white eggs, is laid at intervals of one or two days and incubation begins after the first egg is laid. Both parents incubate and the eggs hatch at intervals of one or two days, each taking about 35 days from the date of laying. Adults at the nest have their legs covered with their droppings and this behaviour termed as urohidrosis is believed to aid in cooling during hot weather. Adults may also spread out their wings and shade the chicks. The chicks are fed at the nest for about five months. The chicks double in size in a week and can stand and walk on the nest platform when they are a month old. At five weeks, the juveniles leap frequently and can defend themselves. The parent birds leave the young along for longer periods at nest at this stage. The young birds leave the nest and fly around the colony when about four months but continue to be fed occasionally by the parents.
caption: An 1855 illustration depicting the stork hunting a snake
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