CreatureData

Milky stork

Mycteria cinerea (Raffles, 1822)

ENEndangeredbirds

The milky stork (Mycteria cinerea) is a species in the family Ciconiidae, order Ciconiiformes. Recorded adults weigh about 2.39 kg. Its IUCN Red List status is Endangered.

Milky stork (Mycteria cinerea)
Photo: Lip Kee Yap · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the milky stork

Weight
2.39 kgsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
coastalsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
2 – 3src for Young per litter or clutch
Lifestyle
Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Partialsrc for Migration
Conservation status
Endangered (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Photos of the milky stork

Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.

1 more photo exists under a licence we cannot display: view at source.

Where does the milky stork live?

Not recorded

What is the milky stork?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The milky stork (Mycteria cinerea) is a stork species inhabiting predominantly mangroves in Southeast Asia. It is native to Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia. It is currently included in the genus Mycteria, is around 91–97 cm (36–38 in) tall, with a wingspan of 43.5–50 cm (17.1–19.7 in) and a tail around 14.5–17 cm (5.7–6.7 in). Its plumage is white apart from a few feathers at the wings and tail. Since the 1980s, the global milky stork population has declined from 5,000 to 2,000 individuals due to habitat destruction, overfishing and illegal smuggling of chicks. It is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List.

From the Wikipedia article “Milky stork” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Milky_stork&oldid=1384729569), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the milky stork endangered?

The milky stork is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List: it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Endangered species.

How is the milky stork classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderCiconiiformes
  5. familyCiconiidae
  6. genusMycteria
  7. SpeciesMycteria cinerea (Raffles, 1822)

Synonyms Ibis cinereus, Mycteria cineria, Tantalus cinereus, Tantalus lacteus

Other names and names in other languages (45)
  • لقلق لبنيArabic
  • Сив щъркелBulgarian
  • Млечен щъркелBulgarian
  • দুধসাদা মানিকজোড়Bangla
  • C'hwibon SundaBreton
  • tàntal blancCatalan
  • nesyt bílýCzech
  • ciconia melynbig y DwyrainWelsh
  • MangrovestorkDanish
  • MilchstorchGerman
  • lakta cikonioEsperanto
  • Blanka mikterioEsperanto
  • Tántalo malayoSpanish
  • Cigüeña lechosaSpanish
  • rand-toonekurgEstonian
  • لکلک شیریPersian
  • sundaniibishaikaraFinnish
  • Tantale blancFrench
  • חסידן מילקיHebrew
  • crvenolica rodaCroatian
  • szumátrai tantaluszHungarian
  • Bangau bluwokIndonesian
  • Cicogna latteaItalian
  • シロトキコウJapanese
  • Malajinis žabirasLithuanian
  • balkšvasis gandrėnasLithuanian
  • Сүүн өнгөт өрөвтасMongolian
  • Burung Botak UpehMalay
  • Tsídiidaanézí dinilgaaígííNavajo
  • Maleise NimmerzatDutch
  • malaystorkNorwegian
  • dławigad malajskiPolish
  • cegonha-malaiaPortuguese
  • tântalo-brancoPortuguese
  • Серый клювачRussian
  • myktéria alabastrováSlovak
  • Crvenolika rodaSerbian
  • indonesisk ibisstorkSwedish
  • นกกระสาปากเหลืองThai
  • Akça LeylekTurkish
  • лелека-тантал білийUkrainian
  • Cò lạo xámVietnamese
  • 灰鸛Chinese
  • 南美鸛Chinese
  • 白鹮鹳Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the milky stork

Other species in the same genus Mycteria.

LC, Least Concern
Wood stork (Mycteria americana)

Wood stork

Mycteria americana

Ciconiidae

CompareMilky stork vs Yellow-billed storkMilky stork vs Painted storkMilky stork vs Wood storkMilky stork vs Wetmore's stork

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the milky stork?

An adult milky stork weighs 2.39 kg, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the milky stork endangered?

The milky stork is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.

What kind of animal is the milky stork?

The milky stork (Mycteria cinerea) belongs to the family Ciconiidae in the order Ciconiiformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Milky stork (Mycteria cinerea). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/milky-stork

MLA

“Milky stork (Mycteria cinerea).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/milky-stork.

BibTeX
@misc{milky_stork_2026,
  title = {Milky stork (Mycteria cinerea)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/milky-stork},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}