Wood Stork
The Wood Stork (Mycteria Americana) belongs to the stork family Ciconiidae.
This is a large wadding bird. South America, Central America and the Caribbean
serve to be its breeding land. The wood stork is a tropical
species. Southern Florida, USA has a small and endangered breeding population
of wood stork. The Wood Stork is the only stork that breeds in North America.
The Wood Stork is sometimes also referred as the Wood Ibis, but it does
not belong to the ibis family.
This bird prefers lowlands and wetlands with trees. They build a large
stick nest in a forest tree. Their brooding time is only once a year and
they lay about 3-5 eggs in a grasp. The female and the male wood stork
serve to incubate the eggs for 27-32 days. When waterholes dry up, their
reproductive cycle is triggered because dried up holes are sufficient
to concentrate fish in sufficient numbers for supplying food for the chicks.
This tropical bird is broad-winged one and it is considered to be a soaring
bird that flies with outstretched neck and extended legs.
These birds are generally large, where the adult bird, is typically 1m
tall with a 1.5 m wingspan. The body of the bird seems to be white and
it has blackish-gray legs and pink feet. In flight, the trailing edge
of the wings is black. The bird sports a downward curved bill, which is
dusky yellow in color; it has got a bald dark brown face. Young birds
seem to be duller than adults, generally browner on the neck, and with
a paler bill.
The Wood Stork preys on fish, frogs and large insects; they walk slowly
and progressively in low water up to its stomach in open swamps looking
for its prey.
The Wood Stork has been categorized in the endangered species list in
1984. these birds are becoming extinct after the twentieth century. |
