A large wetland bird with a white body, bare black head and neck, and a broad bill. It wades in shallow water to find food.
Its feathered body is white, with bare black skin on the head and upper neck. A red band encircles the base of the neck, and its broad black bill curves slightly upward.
Active by day, it walks through shallow water searching for fish, mollusks, insects, and amphibians. It closes its bill when it touches prey.
It flies with the neck extended, alternating slow wingbeats with short glides. During warm periods it may soar on rising air currents.
It builds a stick nest in a tall tree and lays two to five eggs. Both parents share nest building, incubation, and chick care, with one attending the nest while the other forages.
Males are larger than females and have larger, straighter bills.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.