This stork occurs in sub-Saharan Africa. It has a fluffy white neck and black body. The bill is black with red on the tip and upper ridge. It walks through wetlands and pastures to find visible prey such as frogs and fish.
The forehead is white, and the dark crown grades into grey-black streaks toward the white rear of the head. The neck is fluffy white, the body and wings glossy black, and the belly white. The bill is black with red on the tip and upper ridge.
It walks slowly through wetlands and pastures to take visible prey, including frogs and fish. It uses wet places near trees and builds a large platform nest in a tree.
In southern Africa both sexes build a stick platform in a tree fork. They share incubation of two to four eggs for about 30–31 days.
In southern Africa both parents feed the young. They leave the nest to roost in a nearby tree at about 55–65 days and become independent roughly three weeks later.
Juveniles are browner than adults, lack the white forehead, and have dull pink legs.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.