Similar is size and shape to a stork, with grey plumage and elongated tertials forming bulky plumes over the tail. The neck is black with white stripes on the side with a red patch on the crown. They arrive in the autumn and spend the winter in the dehesas, rice fields and lakes. They have not breed in Extremadura since the first part of the last century. They feed on acorns, on the stubble of rice and maize, bulbs and small invertebrates.