Lesser adjutant stork

Aviary near train halt, Paignton, 27th September 2015

Althrough this is the Lesser one, great species ! Howmany does Paignton have and from were did they come ?

vogelcommando said:

Althrough this is the Lesser one, great species ! Howmany does Paignton have and from were did they come ?

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Three young birds, bred at the Bronx.
As they have experience with marabous (which used to be kept in this aviary, but have now been moved to a different one) they are having a go with these, and if all goes well they eventually hope to get greater adjutants, which are apparently the most difficult species in this group.

Alan

Another great pic Alan and what an expressive face.

Great shot Alan!
Are these birds mature, or is their look likely to change with time ?
Very envious.

Bwassa said:

Great shot Alan!
Are these birds mature, or is their look likely to change with time ?
Very envious.

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Err . . . ask the stork that brought them
But thank you for the compliment.

Alan

The reason I asked if they would change, is that various photos on zootierliste show them as having vivid head colours, whereas the individual you photographed is quite pale.

Bwassa said:

The reason I asked if they would change, is that various photos on zootierliste show them as having vivid head colours, whereas the individual you photographed is quite pale.

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The one in the above picture does look like a juvenile to me if you compare it to pictures/videos on the Internet Bird Collection such as this: Lesser Adjutant video: Four juveniles standing in two nests | the Internet Bird Collection

Additionally, the Lesser Adjutants I saw in Walsrode were much more vividly coloured than the one in this picture appears to be, with much brighter yellow colouring on the neck, and reddish colouring around the head.

Bwassa said:

The reason I asked if they would change, is that various photos on zootierliste show them as having vivid head colours, whereas the individual you photographed is quite pale.

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I agree it is pale, perhaps slightly exaggeratedly so because it was this was shot against the light. I think there is some variation between the three individuals and I suspect that some of the colours can change with the state of excitement of the birds. I am told that these are young birds, but I don't know how old they are or how long it will take for them to reach maturity. In other words, I am pretty clueless about storks

Alan