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| Wood Stork | ||||||||||||||
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| Mycteria americana Linnaeus, 1758 |
The Wood Stork (Mycteria americana) is a large wading bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. It is a tropical species which breeds in much of South America, Central America and the Caribbean. There is a small and endangered breeding population in southern Florida, USA. The Wood Stork is North America's only stork.
It is a resident breeder in lowland wetlands with trees. The large stick nest is built in a forest tree, and 3-5 eggs is the typical clutch.
The Wood Stork is a broad winged soaring bird. Like all storks, it flies with its neck outstretched. The adult is a large bird, 1 m tall, with a 1.5 m wingspan. It is mainly white with black flight feathers. The head is dark brown with a bald black face, and the thick downcurved bill is dusky yellow.
Young birds are a duller version of the adult, generally browner on the neck, and with a paler bill.
The Wood Stork walks slowly and steadily on the ground in open wetlands seeking its prey, which like that of most of its relatives is fish, frogs and large insects.