Painted Stork and mongoose in the wilderness

The Painted Stork (Mycteria leucocephala) is a large wading bird in the stork family. It is found in the wetlands of the plains of tropical Asia south of the Himalayas in the Indian Subcontinent and extending into Southeast Asia. Their distinctive pink tertial feathers give them their name. They forage in flocks in shallow waters along rivers or lakes. They immerse their half open beaks in water and sweep them from side to side and snap up their prey of small fish that are sensed by touch. As they wade along they also stir the water with their feet to flush hiding fish. They nest colonially in trees, often along with other waterbirds. They only sounds they produce are weak moans or bill clattering at the nest. They are not migratory and only make short distance movements in some parts of their range in response to food and for breeding. Like other storks, they are often seen soaring on thermals.

Mongoose is the popular English name for 29 of 34 species in the 14 genera of the family Herpestidae, which are small carnivorans that are native to southern Eurasia and mainland Africa. The other five species in the family are the four kusimanses in the genus Crossarchus, and the only species in the genus Suricata: Suricata suricatta, commonly called meerkat in English.

Six species in family Eupleridae, endemic to the island of Madagascar, are also called "mongoose" and were originally classified as a genus within the Herpestidae family, but genetic evidence has since shown that they are more closely related to other Madagascar carnivorans in the family Eupleridae; they have, since 2006, been classified in the subfamily Galidiinae within Eupleridae.

Herpestidae belong to the suborder Feliformia, together with the cat, hyena and civet families.

Source : Wikipedia

This footage is part of the professionally-shot broadcast stock footage archive of Wilderness Films India Ltd., the largest collection of HD imagery from South Asia. The Wilderness Films India collection compr