Lesser Adjutant

The Lesser Adjutant is a large, waterbird bird found in wetlands across South and Southeast Asia. It is cosidered a stork, it is the largest resident bird of West Malaysia. It is a species of stork characterized by its bare head and neck, which are ideal for its varied diet that includes fish, frogs, reptiles, and occasionally carrion. It forages and hunt at coastal mudflats and paddy field. Adults have dark, glossy upperparts and white underparts. In flight, it tucks its neck in, and its broad wings show a distinctive white patch on the inner underwing coverts. It is usually solitory or in small flocks.

It is a recent arrival to Seberang Perai Utara, within the past 10 years, before that it was more common in Seberang Perai Selatan. It should be a northward dispersal from coastal Perak . Number are less than fifty for the whole of Seberang Perai.

https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/lesser-adjutant-leptoptilos-javanicus

At Teluk Air Tawar – Kuala Muda: a resident, and a Vulnerable species. MNS saw it in the mangroves and on the mudflats through the year. See When to see shorebirds at Teluk Air Tawar – Kuala Muda.