They can snap their beaks shut in just 0.025 seconds. Storks will nest in groups in trees, sometimes with other species. Storks regurgitate water over their babies to keep them cool, and to encourage water intake.
Yellow-billed Stork - Birds of South Africa
They nest in colonies in trees, often along with other species of birds such as cormorants or African Spoonbills. The location of the nest site is normally chosen by the male and can the nest can take up to 10 days to build. Up to 3 eggs may be laid. In captivity the Yellow-billed Stork can live for up to 30 years.
Yellow-billed storks live in much of sub-Saharan Africa. They prefer wetland habitats such as swamps, estuaries, riverbanks, rice paddies, lagoons, and mudflats. They are sometimes also found in savanna woodland.
Yellow-billed storks are adaptive and intelligent. They have a fishing technique of using one foot to stir up the water to flush out prey. A quick muscular reflex in the neck enables yellow-billed storks to catch almost all of their food in the water. These storks do not socialize much with one another and tend to isolate themselves in swamps, muddy rivers and marshes. They breed nearly year round. The male chooses the location of the nest and works with the female to build it in 7-10 days. Two or three eggs are laid one at a time, two days apart, so the chicks hatch on different days about a month later.
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