Black-necked Stork

1. Females have bright yellow eyes, males have dark brown eyes

2. Massive, straight black bill and impressive height (up to 1.5 meters tall)

3. In flight, shows a white belly and wings with a bold black bar through the wing

Black-necked Storks are primarily carnivorous, feeding on fish, frogs, eels, crustaceans, reptiles, insects, and sometimes small waterbirds and turtle eggs. They use their large bills to seize and handle prey, sometimes sorting aquatic vegetation on shore to find hidden fish. Breeding occurs mainly from March to August in Australia, though in some regions it may extend from May to January. Nests are huge platforms of sticks built high in isolated trees near water and are often reused for several years. Clutch size is usually 2–4 eggs, and both parents share incubation (about 3–35 days) and care for the chicks, which remain on the nest for 7–115 days before fledging. Both parents participate in raising the young, and pairs may remain together for many years.

Black-necked Storks are found mainly in coastal and near-coastal northern and eastern Australia, including the Northern Territory, Queensland, northern New South Wales, and parts of Western Australia. Their preferred habitats are large, undisturbed freshwater wetlands, floodplains, swamps, billabongs, rivers, and lagoons, but they may also visit rice paddies, farm dams, and even artificial water bodies. They are territorial and usually seen singly or in pairs, sometimes remaining in the same area for years`.`