The Peculiar Adjutants – Part I: The Lesser Adjutant

The name ‘adjutant’, so I thought, is a strange name for a bird. I had to search its meaning. But when I actually saw the bird, I realized why it was chosen.

This bird’s name comes from its uniformed black and white-look and upright posture. It’s not just a name; it’s a befitting military title.

About:

Lesser Adjutant

This large, peculiar bird is a member of the stork family. One can even say its straight out of a prehistoric era. It is mainly dark blue gray above with a white underside. Some of the feathers on the back of the wings are lined with silvery white. The head and neck are bare. The neck is yellow with a few hairy feathers at the back. It wears a small tuft. The eyes are pale. The bill is long, straight and dirty white in color. The legs are gray. The males and females look the same except for their size – males are taller.

The young ones are not born bald; their head is initially covered with small white feathers. Older juveniles have a few dark spots around their shoulders which disappear as they mature.

Behavior:

Feeding on a frog

This is a bird which is water dependent as it feeds on fish, frogs, crabs and sometimes even locusts. It is often found near lakes, wetlands, flooded fields and mangrove forests. It has a large range and is found in India and southeast Asia. Still, it has a very sparse population. It is rare, shy, and usually found feeding and flying singly.

The nest – note the posture of the young one on the left

The nest is a large shallow basket of dry twigs and is made on the branches of large trees. There can be more than one nest in a tree. Both parents share feeding duties and take good care of the chicks. The young in their nest sit with their legs extending in a very human-like posture. They spend their time playing with each other by clanking their beaks, akin to human kids playing with light sabers.

I saw a young bird quietly standing in a grassy area. It was on the edge of a pond. The bird scanned the water’s edge for its favorite food. After searching for a while, it managed to catch something in the grass. I could not make out what it caught. Then it waded into the pond searching for more.

Threats:

The main threat to this bird is habitat loss to agriculture and development.

Commercial over-fishing is another big threat. This shy, scared bird loses out in competition for food with humans. It also hunts in paddy fields, where pesticide and insecticide poisoning pose a problem.

Sadly, this bird is now listed as a Near Threatened species.