Distribution
This species was once widespread in the riverine plains of northern India, however their breeding areas were largely unknown for a long time until a very large nesting colony was finally discovered in 1877 at Shwaygheen on the Sittaung River, Pegu, Burma and it was believed that the Indian birds bred there. This breeding colony, which also included Spot-billed Pelicans, declined in size and entirely vanished by the 1930s. Subsequently, a nest site in Kaziranga was the only known breeding area until new sites were discovered in Assam, the Tonle Sap lake and in the Kulen Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary. In 1989, the breeding population in Assam was estimated at about 115 birds and between 1994 and 1996 the population in the Brahmaputra valley was considered to be about 600. A small colony with about 35 nests was discovered near Bhagalpur in 2006.
During the non-breeding season, storks in the Indian region disperse widely, mainly in the Gangetic Plains and records from the Deccan region are rare. Records of flocks from further south near Mahabalipuram have been questioned. In the 1800s, Adjutant Storks were extremely common within the city of Calcutta during the summer and rainy season. These aggregations along the Ghats of Calcutta however declined and vanished altogether by the early 1900s. Improved sanitation has been suggested as a cause of their decline. Birds were recorded in Bangladesh in the 1850s, breeding somewhere in the Sundarbans, but have not been recorded subsequently.
Read more about this topic: Greater Adjutant
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