Wonder of wood storks

When they aren’t busy delivering human babies, the Lowcountry’s wood stork population is typically occupied delighting birdwatchers, riding thermal currents high in the sky or slowly pushing their long, curved bills through local wetlands searching for their next meals.  
 
While these storks, Mycteria americana, are pretty rare in the United States, they are fairly common on Daniel Island. And though their range includes much of South and Central America, here they are limited to the extreme southeastern U.S., the Gulf Coast and the southernmost parts of California. 
 
Federally listed as an endangered species in 1984, wood storks have maintained stable numbers in recent years. They were “downlisted” to a threatened species in 2014.
 
Frequently found in the company of herons, egrets and other wading birds, wood storks are quite gregarious. They are large birds, too, standing 3-and-a-half-feet tall and having wingspans of up to 5-and-a-half feet. They are predominantly white, but have some black feathers and their heads are featherless like those of wild turkeys and turkey vultures.
 
The wood stork is generally not a fan of saltwater. Their preferred habitat is fresh and brackish water swamps, ponds, wetlands and marshes. They feed in shallow water, typically 4 to 12-inches deep. Here, they probe the bottom or push their bills along in the water searching for fish, aquatic invertebrates, amphibians and reptiles. On Daniel Island, they can frequently be found in or near the water’s edge around many of the golf course lakes and ponds. At dusk, they seek out roosting sites in nearby trees, which offer some additional safety from terrestrial predators through the night.
 
Nesting can take place in various types of trees and bushes, as long as they are over standing water. Storks nest in colonies, too, so sometimes many pairs will be nesting together in a single wetland area. After pairing off, the adult birds will build a nest about four feet wide out of sticks.  This will be lined with foliage and finally cemented together with the birds’ droppings. The female will lay one clutch of eggs per year, usually consisting of two to five eggs and both parents will incubate them for about a month until they hatch. Both parents feed the young birds as well, and one adult typically stays nearby to guard the nest from predators, including marauding single wood storks.
 
Nesting success for wood storks is tied very closely to water levels. Any loss of suitable wetlands can trigger an exodus, and some years nesting is not even attempted if the conditions are too poor. Wetland habitat loss has a profound effect on many species. That is especially true for the wood stork.
 
If this article has piqued your interest, we have a large, viewable wood stork population just down the road at Dungannon Plantation Heritage Preserve near Hollywood. It is a beautiful property with lots of wildlife and is well worth the trip. 
 

Daniel Island Publishing

225 Seven Farms Drive
Unit 108
Daniel Island, SC 29492 

Office Number: 843-856-1999
Fax Number: 843-856-8555

 

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