This bald-headed wading bird stands just over 3 feet tall, towering above almost all other wetland birds. It slowly walks through wetlands with its long, hefty bill down in the water feeling for fish and crustaceans. This ungainly looking stork roosts and nests in …

The wood stork (Mycteria americana) is a large wading bird in the family Ciconiidae (storks). Originally described in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus, this stork is native to the subtropics and tropics of the Americas where it persists in habitats with fluctuating water levels.

Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, stout bills. They belong to the family Ciconiidae, and make up the order Ciconiiformes / sɪˈkoʊni.ɪfɔːrmiːz /. Ciconiiformes previously included a number of other families, such as herons and ibises, but those families have been moved to other orders. [2]

Our only native stork in North America, a very large, heavy-billed bird that wades in the shallows of southern swamps. Flies with slow wingbeats, and flocks often soar very high on warm days. Young Wood Storks have noisy begging calls, but adults …

Storks roost in trees along the water's edge. Wood Storks primarily eat fish and other aquatic invertebrates, but sometimes take seeds, amphibians, nestlings, and reptiles.

Wood stork nests are primarily built in trees that stand in water (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service 1999). In Florida, wood storks are capable of laying eggs from October to June (Rodgers 1990).

The wood stork is a large, long-legged wading bird about 33-44 inches in height with a wingspan of 59-65 inches, and a large, down-curved bill. The plumage is mostly white, with the wing-tips, trailing edge of the wings, and tail colored black with a greenish sheen.

Trees: Many storks, such as the Wood Stork, favor trees for their nests, especially ones that stand in or near bodies of water. On the ground: Species like the Maguari storks construct nests on the ground in dense reed beds.

It is relatively easy to identify wood storks, but they can be confused with white-plumaged herons and egrets with which the wood stork frequently associates. In this article, you will learn how to identify a wood stork standing and in the air.

Wood storks are rather easy to see near wetlands in the southern United States. Thought, their natural history, and behavior are rather peculiar. Here are some facts about the wood stork that you may find interesting. These two young wood storks are about two weeks from leaving their nest. Photo: US Fish & Wildlife Service.