Wood stork

Wood stork is a large American wading bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. Originally described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758, this stork likely evolved in tropical regions. The habitat of the wood stork can vary, but it must have a tropical or subtropical climate with fluctuating water levels. Globally, the wood Stork is considered to be of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

About Wood stork in brief

Wood stork is a large American wading bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. Originally described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758, this stork likely evolved in tropical regions. The habitat of the wood stork can vary, but it must have a tropical or subtropical climate with fluctuating water levels. The one metre in diameter nest is found in trees, especially mangroves and those of the genus Taxodium, usually surrounded by water or over water. In South America it is resident, but in North America, it may disperse as far as Florida. Globally, the wood Stork is considered to be of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. In the United States, on the other hand, it is thought to be threatened by predators such as raccoons, caracaras and other birds of prey. Hunting and egg-collecting by humans has been implicated as a factor in the decline of South American wood storks. A fossil fragment from the Touro Passo Passo Formation might be a sister species of the living stork. This fossil was found at the end of the Pleistocene age, a few 10,000 years ago. Of the extant members of the wetmorei, M. morei would be distinguished from the woodstork on the basis of the size and shape of its mandible. The species name references the distribution of this species of stork, and the accepted genus name derives from the Greek mykter, meaning snout. Wood stork seems to have been in North American presence in the last ice age; its probably postdates the tropical regions of the Americas.

It was formerly called the ‘wood ibis’, though it is not an ibis. The juvenile differs from the adult, with the former having a feathered head and a yellow bill, compared to the black adult bill. The chicks are fed fish of increasing size. The diet of the adult changes throughout the year. During the dry season, fish and insects are eaten, compared with the addition of frogs and crabs during the wet season. Only about 31% of nests fledge a chick in any given year, with most chicks dying during their first two weeks, despite being watched by an adult during that time. They fledge 60 to 65 days after hatching, although only about 31 per cent of nests fleege a chicks in anyGiven year. The bird is usually found in subtropicals and tropical habitats in the Americas, including the Caribbean and South America. The nest itself is made from sticks and greenery. It can occur anytime between November and August, and a single clutch of three to five eggs is laid. These are incubated for around 30 days and the chicks hatch altricial. They are fedFish and insects in the dry period, and fish and crabs in the wet. The birds forages by touch, and needs shallow water to effectively catch food. This is also the reason why the woodStork breeds when water levels start to fall.

Related posts:

Réunion ibis White stork Black stork American white ibis