It frequents a wide range of open habitats, not just wetlands. Freshwater habitats used include marshes, lakes, reservoirs, flooded fields, rice paddies, irrigation channels, swamp forest and river banks. It also uses farmland, especially where close to water. More occasionally, it visits intertidal mudflats (especially in Thailand) and saltpans.

Endemic to South and South-East Asia (range states discussed broadly west to east). In Pakistan, principally confined to the Indus Delta region, chiefly in wetland areas south of Karachi, although its true distribution/abundance is obfuscated by low effort (eBird 2023). Occurs effectively throughout India (including far from water), although is commonest in the west and south, but only narrowly in southernmost Nepal (chiefly in summer). Common and widespread in Sri Lanka. In Bangladesh, rather sparsely distributed but with concentrations along the Padma (especially near Rajshahi) and more sporadically in the Sundarbans. Scarce too in Myanmar, chiefly along the Ayeyarwady River and Delta. Increasingly widespread in Thailand, although with records concentrated around the Gulf of Thailand and Bangkok. In Lao PDR formally more widespread and there appear to be no very recent records (Timmins et al. in prep., eBird 2023); nonetheless, wanderers may occur in the country's far south. In Cambodia widespread in suitable habitat, with breeding concentrations around Tonle Sap. In Viet Nam, frequent records from only the south, but occasional records in Xuan Thuy National Park suggest it may be more widespread. Wanderers have occasionally reached China, but there is no evidence it is anything but a vagrant here. In Peninsular Malaysia, there is a population centred around Kuala Lumpur that has originated from escapes, with a second population at the Peninsular's southernmost tip, where wanderers from a second escaped population (which may at this point, be near joining) in Singapore occasionally cross the border (Puan et al. 2020). There is significant concern that these escaped population may stray to neighbouring Indonesia and interbreed with the Endangered Mycteria cinerea (Baveja et al. 2019). In time, the expansion of native birds from Thailand may reach Malaysia.

Conservation Actions Underway
Landscape-scale monitoring of breeding and foraging populations on agricultural areas in South Asia has been coordinated by the International Crane Foundation and the Nature Conservation Foundation since 2011 (G. Sundar in litt. 2016). It occurs in a number of protected areas but a large number also occur in agricultural areas with no formal designation. Monitoring is captured by several schemes including State of India's Birds (which uses complete eBird checklists from which to derive trends) and Wetlands International (who mostly use the Asian Waterbird Census data). It is classified as a Rare Species under Cambodian law (Visal and Mahood 2015). Since 2004 the colony at Prek Toal, Tonle Sap Lake, Cambodia, has been successfully protected and monitored by MoE staff who work with former egg collectors. Breeding numbers have increased considerably in response, from c. 1,000 nests in 2004, to over 3,000 in 2021 (WCS unpublished data).

Conservation Actions Proposed
Continue to regularly monitor known colonies throughout the species range. Ensure complete and permanent protection of all breeding congregations. Encourage farming systems that create and not destroy suitable foraging habitat. Mitigate against development schemes which destroy sites where it is found. Conduct awareness campaigns involving local residents to engender pride in the species and other large waterbirds and prevent hunting.