Editing Lesser adjutant (section)

==Behaviour and ecology==
The lesser adjutant stalks around wetlands feeding mainly on fish, frogs, reptiles, large invertebrates, rodents, small mammals and rarely carrion.<ref name="Hancock" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last=Kahl|first=M. P.|date=1970|title=Observations on the breeding of storks in India and Ceylon|journal=Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society|volume=67|pages=453–461|url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/47820043}}</ref> Location of prey appears to be entirely visual, with one observation of storks sitting on telegraphic poles apparently scanning a marsh for prey.<ref name="Hancock" />

They are largely silent but have been noted to clatter their bill, hiss and moan at the nest.<ref name="pcr" /> During one of the threat displays called the "Arching display" that is given in the presence of intruders, adults extend their neck and sometimes give a hoarse wail.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal|last=Kahl|first=M. P.|date=1972|title=Comparative ethology of the Ciconiidae. Part 2. The Adjutant Storks, Leptoptilos dubius (Gmelin) and L. javanicus (Horsfield)|journal=Ardea|volume=60|pages=97–111}}</ref>

Courtship behaviour of the lesser adjutant is identical to other species of the genus ''[[Leptoptilos]]''. During pair formation, female birds lift their heads in a scooping motion with bill-clattering (called the "Balancing Posture").<ref name=":4" /> They are solitary except during the breeding season when they form loose colonies, never exceeding 20 nests in a single colony.<ref name="hbk" /><ref name="Hancock" /> The breeding season is February to May in southern India and November to January in north-eastern India, beginning as early as July.<ref name="Hancock" /><ref name="fbi2" /> In central lowland Nepal, nesting in 2015 began in July, and new colonies continued to be initiated until November.<ref name=":5" /> The nest is a large platform of sticks placed on a tall tree. In Nepal, nest initiations started in mid-September continuing until mid-November, with all chicks fledging by late-January.<ref name="gopi2016" /> The nest diameter is more than a metre and up to a metre deep.<ref name="hbk" /> The clutch consists of two to four white eggs that are rapidly soiled during incubation.<ref name="Hancock" /><ref name="fbi2">{{cite book|author=Baker, ECS| title=Fauna of British India. Birds. Volume 6|edition=2nd|publisher=Taylor and Francis|place=London| url=https://archive.org/stream/BakerFbiBirds6/BakerFBI6#page/n369/mode/1up|pages=329–330|year=1929}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Maust, M.|author2=Clum, N.|author3=Sheppard, C.|name-list-style=amp |year=2007|title= Ontogeny of chick behavior: a tool for monitoring the growth and development of lesser adjutant storks|journal= Zoo Biol.|volume=26|pages=533–538| doi=10.1002/zoo.20156|issue=6|pmid=19360599}}</ref> Incubation period is 28–30 days.<ref name="Hancock" />

In eastern Nepal, four colonies consisting of 61 nests were all built on the tree species ''Haldina cordifolia'' and ''Bombax ceiba''.<ref name=":0" /> In central lowland Nepal, 35 colonies with 101 nests were located on four tree species namely ''Haldina cordifolia'', ''Bombax ceiba'', ''Ficus benghalensis'' and ''Ficus religiosa'' with the majority of colonies located on ''Bombax ceiba'' trees.<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal|last1=Koju|first1=Roshila|last2=Maharjan|first2=Bijay|last3=Gosai|first3=K.R.|last4=Kittur|first4=Swati|last5=Sundar|first5=K.S. Gopi|title=Ciconiiformes nesting on trees in cereal-dominated farmlands: importance of scattered trees for heronries in lowland Nepal|journal=Waterbirds|year=2020|volume=42|issue=4|pages=355–365|doi=10.1675/063.042.0401|s2cid=210861485|doi-access=free}}</ref> Another study the subsequent year across five locations along lowland Nepal monitored 65 colonies with 206 nests from which 280 chicks fledged, and the most frequently used tree species were ''B. ceiba'', ''H. cordifolia'' and ''F. religiosa'' respectively.<ref name=":7" /> Other tree species on which nests have been found in India and Myanmar include ''Alstonia scholaris'' and ''Salmalia malabarica'' with some nests located as high as 46 m.<ref name=":3" /> Nests have not yet been located in Sri Lanka, though young birds have been observed feeding in crop fields and in freshwater wetlands.<ref name=":2" /> The average size of 35 colonies with a total of 101 nests in central, lowland Nepal was 2.9 nests, ranging in size from one nest to 13 nests.<ref name="gopi2016" /> Location of colonies in central lowland Nepal was not related to tree density available on the landscape suggesting that nest trees are still adequate here. However, lesser adjutant storks strongly selected non-domestic trees almost entirely, also preferring trees that were much taller and bigger relative to available trees on the landscape.<ref name=":6" /> Religious beliefs and agro-forestry practices appear to be responsible for retaining trees that are preferred by lesser adjutants for locating their colonies.

Breeding success in lowland Nepal was positively correlated to colony size, possibly due to reduced predation at colonies.<ref name=":5" /> Colony-level breeding success was also impacted by extent of wetlands around colonies, which ameliorated negative impacts of proximity to human habitation. Colonies located on trees in agricultural landscapes of lowland Nepal had a higher breeding success relative to colonies located on trees in forested areas or protected wetland preserves suggesting that current agricultural practices with one season of flooded crops (rice during the monsoon season) followed by winter crops that need some pulsed irrigation (e.g. wheat) are conducive to Lesser Adjutant breeding.<ref name=":5" /> Multi-site evaluations showed Lesser Adjutants used cues such as tree height to locate colonies, with taller trees hosting bigger colonies, which in turn resulted in higher fledging success.<ref name=":7" /> 

Adult storks took an average of 30 minutes to return to nests with food for nestlings and fledglings, though there was considerable variation in this measure. Time taken to return to nests by adults was impacted by colony size, age of chicks, amount of wetlands around colonies, and the progression of the season.<ref name="gopi2016" /> Adults returned faster when brood sizes were higher, but took longer to return as chicks aged. The breeding season in Nepal extended from the middle of the monsoon, when the primary crop on the landscape was flooded rice, to winter, when the cropping was much more mixed and the landscape was much drier. This variation was clearly represented in the changing amount of time it took adults to return to nest after finding food.<ref name="gopi2016" /> They returned much faster during the monsoon, but took longer when the crops changed and the landscape dried out suggesting that changing cropping patterns can have serious implications on their ability to raise chicks.

A lesser adjutant paired and hybridized with a [[painted stork]] at Dehiwala Zoo, Sri Lanka and at Kuala Lumpur Zoo.<ref name="Hancock" /> The hybrid young had plumage and bill-size of the adjutant, but stance and bill shape of the painted stork.