Ephippiorhynchus
From Freepedia
| Ephippiorhynchus | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Image:Saddle Billed Stork.jpg Saddle-billed Stork, Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis | ||||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||
|
Ephippiorhynchus is a small genus of storks. It contains two very large birds, more than 140cm tall with a 230-270cm wingspan. Both are mainly black and white, with huge colourful, mainly red and black bills. The sexes of these species are similarly plumaged, but differ in eye colour.
The species are:
- Saddle-billed Stork, Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis of sub-Saharan Africa
- Black-necked Stork, Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus of tropical Asia
These large wading birds breed in marshes and other wetlands, building a large, deep stick nest in a tree. Like most storks, they fly with the neck outstretched, not retracted like a heron. They are silent except for bill-clattering at the nest
Ephippiorhynchus storks, like most of their relatives, feeds mainly on fish, frogs and crabs, but also on young birds, and other land vertebrates. They move in a deliberate and stately manner as they hunt, in a similar way to the larger heron.
The genus name Ephippiorhynchus is derived from Greek ephippos, "on a horse", and rhynchus, "bill", and refers to the frontal shield which saddles the bill of one species.
References
- Birds of The Gambia by Barlow, Wacher and Disley, ISBN 1-873403-32-1
- Birds of India by Grimmett, Inskipp and Inskipp, ISBN 0-691-04910-6
