Greater Adjutant Stork Conservation

The Prime Minister of India shares the efforts of rural women in Assam, called the ‘Hargila Army’, to save the ‘Hargila Bird’. The Hargila Bird, also known as the Greater Adjutant Stork, including its habitat, distribution, threats, and conservation status.

Greater Adjutant Stork (Hargila Bird):

Dimension	Key Details
Other name	Greater Adjutant Stork is also known as the Hargila Bird.
Taxonomic group	It is a large member of the stork family.
Habitat	It inhabits wetlands, shallow lakes, drying lake beds, and freshwater flooded forests.
Distribution	It resides only in Assam and Bihar in India, and in Cambodia.
Group behaviour	It is usually seen singly or in small groups as it stalks about in shallow water.
Breeding	It breeds during winter in colonies that may include other large waterbirds.
Diet	It is omnivorous: it is mainly a scavenger, and it also preys on frogs and large insects, and takes birds, reptiles, and rodents.
Threats	Threats comprise loss of nesting and feeding habitat through draining of wetlands, and pollution.
IUCN status	Its IUCN conservation status is Near Threatened.
Indian legal status	Under the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, it is listed in Schedule IV.