Editing Stork (section)

==Behaviour==
===Feeding and diet===
[[File:African openbill, Anastomus lamelligerus, Chobe National Park, Botswana (32390774275).jpg|thumb|African openbill foraging in shallow water]]
Storks are carnivorous predators, taking a range of reptiles, small mammals, insects, fish, amphibians and other small invertebrates. Storks usually hunt for animals in shallow water. Any plant material consumed is usually by accident. ''Mycteria'' storks are specialists in feeding on aquatic vertebrates, particularly when prey is concentrated by lowering water levels or flooding into shallows. On marine mudflats and mangrove swamps in [[Sumatra]], milky storks feed on [[mudskipper]]s, probing the burrow with the bill and even the whole head into the mud.{{Citation needed|date=April 2021}} The characteristic feeding method involves standing or walking in shallow water and holding the bill submerged in the water. When contact is made with prey the bill reflexively snaps shut in 25 milliseconds, one of the fastest reactions known in any vertebrate. The reaction is able to distinguish between prey items and inanimate objects like branches, although the exact mechanism is unknown.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Kahl|first1=M. P.|last2=Peacock|first2=L. J.|title=The Bill-snap Reflex : a Feeding Mechanism in the American Wood Stork|journal=Nature|date=3 August 1963|volume=199|issue=4892|pages=505–506|doi=10.1038/199505a0|pmid=14058622|bibcode=1963Natur.199..505K|s2cid=332546}}</ref><ref name="HBW" />

Openbills are specialists in freshwater molluscs, particularly apple snails. They feed in small groups,<ref name=":0" /> and sometimes African openbills ride on the backs of hippos while foraging. Having caught a snail it will return to land or at least to the shallows to eat it. The fine tip of the bill of the openbills is used to open the snail, and the saliva has a narcotic effect, which causes the snail to relax and simplifies the process of extraction.<ref name="HBW" />

The other genera of storks are more generalised. ''Ciconia'' storks are very generalised in their diets, and some species including Abdim's stork and marabous will feed in large flocks on swarms of locusts and at wildfires.<ref name="HBW" /><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Dean|first1=G. J. W.|title=Stork and egret as predators of the red locust in the Rukwa Valley outbreak area|journal=Ostrich|date=June 1964|volume=35|issue=2|pages=95–100|doi=10.1080/00306525.1964.9633490|bibcode=1964Ostri..35...95D }}</ref> This is why white storks and Abdim's storks are known as "grasshopper birds". ''Ephippiorhynchus'' are carnivorous though have a very diverse diet when living on human modified habitats such as agricultural landscapes.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Sundar|first=K.S. Gopi|date=2011|title=Farmland foods: Black-necked Stork Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus prey items in an agricultural landscape|url=https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5c1a9e03f407b482a158da87/t/5c211dc7352f53dd5f7882a9/1545674184080/Black-necked-Stork.pdf|journal=Forktail|volume=27|pages=98–99}}</ref> The foraging method used by the generalists is to stalk or walk across grassland or shallow water, watching for prey.<ref name="HBW" />

===Breeding===

Storks range from being solitary breeders through loose breeding associations to fully [[Bird colony|colonial]]. The jabiru, ''Ephippiorhynchus'' storks and several species of ''Ciconia'' are entirely solitary when breeding.<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Sundar|first=K.S. Gopi|date=2003|title=Notes on the breeding biology of the Black-necked Stork Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus in Etawah and Mainpuri districts, Uttar Pradesh, India|journal=Forktail|volume=19|pages=15–20}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Sundar|first=K.S. Gopi|date=2011|title=Agricultural intensification, rainfall patterns, and large waterbird breeding success in the extensively cultivated landscape of Uttar Pradesh, India|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S000632071100365X|journal=Biological Conservation|volume=144|issue=12|pages=3055–3063|doi=10.1016/j.biocon.2011.09.012|bibcode=2011BCons.144.3055G }}</ref> In contrast the ''Mycteria'' storks, Abdim's stork, openbills and ''Leptoptilos'' storks breed in colonies which can range from a couple of pairs to thousands.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> Many of these species breed in colonies with other waterbirds, which can include other species of storks, herons and egrets, pelicans, cormorants and ibises. White storks, Oriental storks and Maguari storks are all loosely colonial, and may breed in nests that are within visual range of others of the same species, but have little to do with one another. They also may nest solitarily, and the reasons why they choose to nest together or apart are not understood.<ref name="HBW" /> Storks use trees in a variety of habitats to breed including forests, cities, farmlands, and large wetlands.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":7" /><ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Urfi |first=Abdul J. |date=2010 |title=Using heronry birds to monitor urbanization impacts: a case study of Painted Stork Mycteria leucocephala nesting in the Delhi Zoo, India |journal=Ambio |volume=39 |issue=2 |pages=190–193|doi=10.1007/s13280-010-0018-3 |pmid=20653281 |pmc=3357691 |bibcode=2010Ambio..39..190U }}</ref>