First Record on Diet and Intestinal Microbiota of Oriental Storks in Non-Traditional Overwintering Habitats

Understanding diet–health linkages in endangered oriental storks (Ciconia boyciana) occupying non-traditional overwintering habitats is imperative for conservation prioritization. Integrated high-throughput sequencing and microscopic analyses revealed their food composition, gut microbiome profile, and critical associations between diet selection and health status. Dominant gut microbial phyla included Firmicutes (64.62%), Fusobacteriota (24.08%), and Bacteroidota (4.10%), with Clostridium_sensu_stricto_1 (21.93%), Paeniclostridium (14.21%), and Fusobacterium (12.58%) at genus level. Microscopic examination of fecal samples identified six plant species (three families, six genera), while sequencing detected five plant-derived and two animal-derived food families. Both methods confirmed Poaceae, Cannabaceae, and Apocynaceae; sequencing uniquely revealed Malvaceae and Leguminosae. There was a significant negative correlation between Cyprinidae and Bacteroidota (0.01 < p ≤ 0.05). Both diet composition and gut microbial structure of the Ciconia boyciana in this study reflect flexible adaptation in response to winter thermoregulation and local food availability, providing a scientific basis for evidence-based conservation of this endangered species as well as other ecologically similar species. This work offers practical guidance for habitat restoration and dietary supplementation in non-traditional wintering sites while informing conservation strategies for ecologically similar species. Due to the limited sample size, future efforts will expand sampling to more accurately characterize population-level dietary patterns and gut microbiota profiles, thereby strengthening conservation decision-making.