Mycteria

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Genus of birds

title: "Mycteria" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["mycteria", "bird-genera"] description: "Genus of birds" topic_path: "general/mycteria" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycteria" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Genus of birds ::

| fossil_range = Middle Miocene to Recent | image = Yellow-billed stork (Mycteria ibis) 2.jpg | image_caption = Yellow-billed stork (M. ibis) in Uganda | taxon = Mycteria | authority = Linnaeus, 1758 | type_species = Mycteria americana (wood stork) | type_species_authority = Linnaeus, 1758 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = *Mycteria americana

Mycteria is a genus of large subtropical and tropical storks (family Ciconiidae) with representatives in the Americas, east Africa, and southern and southeastern Asia. Two species have "ibis" in their scientific or old common names, but they are not related to these birds, and merely resemble some bald-headed ibises.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/Painted_Stork_(Mycteria_leucocephala)-_Adult_with_Immatures_W_IMG_8601.jpg" caption="M. leucocephala]]'') at [[Uppalapadu]], [[Andhra Pradesh]], India"] ::

Mycteria spp. are large birds, typically around 90–100 cm in length with a 150 cm wingspan. The body plumage is mainly white in all the species, with black in the flight feathers of the wings. The Old World species have bright yellow bills, red or yellow bare facial skin, and red legs; these parts are much duller in the American wood stork. Juvenile Mycteria storks are duller versions of the adults, generally browner and with paler bills.

These storks are gregarious broad-winged soaring birds that fly with the neck outstretched and legs extended. Mycteria spp. are resident breeders in lowland wetlands where they build large stick nests in trees. Most species of Mycteria are diurnal, except for M. americana, which may be nocturnal.

Mycteria storks walk slowly and steadily in shallow open wetlands seeking their prey, which, like that of most of their relatives, consists of fish, frogs and large insects.

Distribution

The genus Mycteria inhabits subtropical and tropical regions. M. americana is distributed throughout the Americas, from the southeastern United States to northern Argentina. M. ibis lives in tropical Africa. M. leucocephala is present in eastern Pakistan and India to Vietnam. M. cinerea lives in Southeast Asia, from Cambodia and Vietnam to Sumatra and Java.

Taxonomy

The genus Mycteria was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae for the wood stork (Mycteria americana), the type species. The genus name is from the Ancient Greek μυκτηρ/muktēr meaning "snout" or "nose".

Species

The genus contains four species.

|name=Wood stork |binomial=Mycteria americana |image=File:Mycteria americana 200910.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt= |authority-name=Linnaeus|authority-year= 1758 |authority-not-original= |range= southeastern United States, Mexico, Central America, Cuba, and South America |range-image=File:Mycteria americana map.svg |range-image-size=180px |iucn-status= LC |population=250,000 birds; 30,000 in U.S. |direction=population increasing |subspecies=monotypic|size=85–115 cm (length), 150–175 cm (wingspan), 2050–2640 g (weight)|habitat=swamps and mangroves|hunting=fish, insects, amphibians, crustaceans}}

|name=Yellow-billed stork |binomial=Mycteria ibis |image=File:Flickr - don macauley - Mycteria ibis 3.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt= |authority-name=Linnaeus |authority-year=1766 |authority-not-original=yes |range= Senegal and Somalia down to South Africa and in some regions of western Madagascar |range-image= |range-image-size=180px |size= |habitat= |hunting= |iucn-status= LC |population= |direction= |subspecies=monotypic

|name=Painted stork |binomial=Mycteria leucocephala |image=File:Mycteria leucocephala -walking-8.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt= |authority-name=Pennant |authority-year=1769 |authority-not-original=yes |range= south of the Himalayan ranges and are bounded on the west by the Indus River system where they are rare and extend eastwards into Southeast Asia |range-image=File:PaintedStorkMap.svg |range-image-size=180px |size= |habitat= |hunting= |iucn-status= LC |population= |direction= |subspecies=monotypic

|name=Milky stork |binomial=Mycteria cinerea |image=File:Mycteria cinerea, Singapore 2.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt= |authority-name=Raffles |authority-year=1822 |authority-not-original=yes |range= Southeast Asia |range-image=File:Milkystorkrange.png |range-image-size=180px |size=92–97 cm (length), 43.5–50 cm (wingspan), approx. 630 g (weight) |habitat=mudflats and mangroves |hunting=fish, snakes, frogs, insects, crustaceans |iucn-status= EN |population=600-1,850 birds |direction=population declining |subspecies=monotypic

Fossils

Two prehistoric relatives of the wood stork have been described from fossils:

  • Mycteria milleri (Miller's stork) (Valentine Middle Miocene of Cherry County, US) - formerly Dissourodes
  • Mycteria wetmorei (Wetmore's stork) (Late Pleistocene of west and southeast US, and Cuba)

The latter seems to have been a larger sister species of the wood stork, which it replaced in prehistoric North America.

Late Miocene tarsometatarsus fragments (Ituzaingó Formation at Paraná, Argentina) are somewhat similar to Mycteria but still distinct enough to be probably a distinct genus, especially considering their age. A Late Pleistocene distal radius from San Josecito Cavern (Mexico) may belong in this genus or in Ciconia. A "ciconiiform" fossil fragment from the Touro Passo Formation found at Arroio Touro Passo (Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil) might be of the living species M. americana; it is at most of Late Pleistocene age, a few ten thousands of years.

References

References

  1. DEL HOYO, J.; ELIOTT, A. e SARGATAL, J (Eds.). 1992 - Handbook of the birds of the world. Lynx, Barcelona. 879p.
  2. Kahl, M. P.. (January 1971). "Food and feeding behavior of Openbill Storks". Journal für Ornithologie.
  3. Linnaeus, Carl. (1758). "Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis". Laurentii Salvii.
  4. (1979). "Check-List of Birds of the World". Museum of Comparative Zoology.
  5. Jobling, James A.. (2010). "The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names". Christopher Helm.
  6. (July 2021). "Storks, frigatebirds, boobies, darters, cormorants". International Ornithologists' Union.
  7. Cione, Alberto Luis; de las Mercedes Azpelicueta, María; Bond, Mariano; Carlini, Alfredo A.; Casciotta, Jorge R.; Cozzuol, Mario Alberto; de la Fuente, Marcelo; Gasparini, Zulma; Goin, Francisco J.; Noriega, Jorge; Scillatoyané, Gustavo J.; Soibelzon, Leopoldo; Tonni, Eduardo Pedro; Verzi, Diego & Guiomar Vucetich, María (2000): [http://www.unt.edu.ar/fcsnat/INSUGEO/libro_neogeno/neogeno_argentina.pdf Miocene vertebrates from Entre Ríos province, eastern Argentina] {{webarchive. link. (2008-02-28 . ''In:'' Aceñolaza, F.G. & Herbst, R. (eds.): El Neógeno de Argentina. ''INSUGEO Serie Correlación Geológica'' '''14''': 191-237.)
  8. Noriega, Jorge Ignacio & Cladera, Gerardo (2005): [http://nrm.museum/ve/birds/sape/SAPE_abstracts_2004.pdf ''First Record of Leptoptilini (Ciconiiformes: Ciconiidae) in the Neogene of South America''] {{Webarchive. link. (2008-02-28 . Abstracts of Sixth International Meeting of the Society of Avian Paleontology and Evolution: 47.)
  9. Schmaltz Hsou, Annie (2007): [http://www6.ufrgs.br/alpp/Resumos_Quaternario_RS.pdf O estado atual do registro fóssil de répteis e aves no Pleistoceno do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil] ["The current state of the fossil record of Pleistocene reptiles and birds of Rio Grande do Sul"]. Talk held on 2007-JUN-20 at ''Quaternário do RS: integrando conhecimento'', Canoas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
  10. (1994). "New Information on the Late Pleistocene Birds from San Josecito Cave, Nuevo León, Mexico". [[Condor (journal).
  11. (2003). "New Records of Storks (Ciconiidae) from Quaternary Asphalt Deposits in Cuba". [[Condor (journal).

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