Wood Stork

Mycteria americana

The Wood Stork is a tall, wading bird with long legs and a big beak. They like to stand in shallow water and catch fish with their beaks. These birds are very graceful when they fly!

Habitat: Wetlands

Appearance

The Wood Stork is a large, white wading bird with dark gray to black flight feathers. It has an unfeathered, dark grayish-black head and neck, and a long, thick, downcurved bill. Its legs are pinkish.

KingdomAnimaliaPhylumChordataClassAvesOrderCiconiiformesFamilyCiconiidaeGenusMycteria

Wood Stork

Interesting facts

Baby storks are born with soft, downy feathers covering their heads, which disappear as they grow.

Their extra-long, sensitive bills can snap shut on fish in less than 25 milliseconds!

They use a "foot-stirring" dance in shallow water to flush out hidden prey!

Wood Storks don't sing; they hiss and clatter their bills to talk to each other!

Special abilities

Wood Storks can find prey in murky water by feeling with their sensitive bills, which snap shut incredibly fast.

Wood Storks have broad wings that help them ride warm air currents, allowing long-distance flight with little effort.

Wood Storks have a unique ability to cool down by letting their droppings run down their legs.

Measurements & details

Length: 83-115 cm
Wingspan: 150-180 cm
Weight: 2-4.5 kg
Lifespan: 11-18 years
Top Speed: 50 km/h
Clutch Size: 2-5
Incubation: 27-32 days

Diet & Feeding

They mostly eat small fish and other aquatic creatures by feeling for them in the water.

Primary Foods

small fish
frogs
tadpoles
crayfish
aquatic insects

Foraging Method

Foraging

Ecological connections

eaten by

American Alligator

Alligator mississippiensis

Alligators sometimes prey on their eggs and young chicks.

eaten by

Raccoon

Procyon lotor

Raccoons are known to raid nests for eggs and young storks.

hunts

Eastern Mosquitofish

Gambusia holbrooki

They effectively hunt small mosquitofish in shallow water.

hunts

Southern Leopard Frog

Lithobates sphenocephalus

Commonly eats frogs and tadpoles found in wetlands.

shelters

Bald Cypress

Taxodium distichum

Often build their nests high in bald cypress trees.

Traits

Feathered

Feathered describes animals, primarily birds, possessing a covering of feathers.

Social

Social animals live in organized groups, cooperating for survival benefits such as foraging, defense, and raising offspring.

Filter Feeder

Filter feeders obtain nutrients by straining suspended food particles and small organisms from water.

Piscivorous

Piscivorous organisms are animals that primarily subsist on a diet of fish.

Wetland

This habitat trait identifies species found in wetlands, which are areas of land saturated with water, either permanently or seasonally, including marshes, swamps, and bogs.