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Wood storks nest in mixed hardwood swamps, sloughs, mangroves, and cypress domes/strands in Florida (Florida Natural Areas Inventory 2001). They forage in a variety of wetlands including both freshwater and estuarine marshes, although limited to depths less than 10-12 inches.
One of Florida's most iconic wading birds, Wood Storks have suffered from the destruction and degradation of our state’s wetlands. Today, the Wood Stork is classified as “Threatened” by the State of Florida and the federal government.
Wood Storks are hefty wading birds with football-shaped bodies perched atop long legs. They have a long neck and a long, thick bill that is curved at the tip. They fly with their neck and legs outstretched but tend to perch with the neck drawn in, giving them a humpbacked appearance.
Florida has the largest nesting population in the U.S. Non-breeding and migratory storks occur in southern California, southern Texas and Louisiana, along the Atlantic coast as far north as Delaware Bay, and along the Mississippi drainage as far north as Missouri. What do wood storks feed on?
Our only native stork in North America, a very large, heavy-billed bird that wades in the shallows of southern swamps. Flies with slow wingbeats, and flocks often soar very high on warm days. Young Wood Storks have noisy begging calls, but adults are almost silent except for hissing and bill clappering.
The only true stork native to North America, the wood stork can have a wingspan of over five feet. Learn how to identify this bird and where to see it in Florida.
Apr 8, 2021 · The Wood Stork used to thrive in south Florida because it is a specialized species that prefers tropical and subtropical habitats with distinct wet and dry seasons. A stork locates food -- mostly small, freshwater fish -- not by sight but by tactolocation, or groping with its bill in shallow water.
The wood stork is the only stork that breeds in North America. In the United States there are small breeding populations in Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas. [18] In South America, it is found south to northern Argentina. Some populations in North America disperse after breeding, frequently to South America.
Wood Storks occur only in a few areas in the United States, so to get a look at one, head to a wetland preserve or wildlife area along the coast in Florida, South Carolina, or Georgia.
Wood Storks have evolved over millennia in Florida’s Greater Everglades, including what is now Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, to take advantage of the ebb and flow of water levels in our wet and dry seasons.
