Lesser Adjutant

A large stork with a completely bare head and neck ideal for its scavenging habits. The adult’s face is red and the neck is yellow while the juvenile has a brownish head and a white, thinly-feathered neck. The upperparts are all dark while the underparts are mostly white. In flight, note the broad wings with distinctive white “armpits” and tucked in neck. Similar to the larger Greater Adjutant; Lesser has a more slender bill, has all-dark upperwings, and often adopts a more upright, less “hunched” posture. Often found in shallow marshes, fields, and swamps.

The lesser adjutant in Sri Lanka can be found in lowland areas, including protected areas, forested wetlands, and crop fields.

n Sri Lanka, the Lesser Adjutant primarily feeds on fish, frogs, reptiles, large invertebrates, rodents, and small mammals found in wetland areas, rarely scavenging carrion; their diet often includes mudskippers which they catch by walking and probing in shallow water.