Wood Stork

Wood Stork, adult

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Wood Stork, adult in flight

Wood Stork, juvenile

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1. Description
2. Similar Species
3. Sound
4. Range
5. Other Names

A large, white, bald-headed wading bird of the southeastern swamps, the Wood Stork is the only stork breeding in the United States. Its late winter breeding season is timed to the Florida dry season when its fish prey become concentrated in shrinking pools.

Description

• Size: 85-115 cm (33-45 in)
• Wingspan: 150-175 cm (59-69 in)
• Weight: 2050-2640 g (72.37-93.19 ounces)

• Huge, long-legged white bird.
• Long, thick, down-curved bill.
• Head black and bald.
• Wings white with extensive black flight feathers.

Sex Differences

Sexes look alike.

Immature

Similar to adult, but neck and most of head feathered whitish.

Similar Species

• Egrets have straight bills, white heads, and lack black in wings.
• White Ibis is much smaller, has a bright red face and bill, and has black only at the tips of the wings.
• White Pelican has similarly marked wings, but lacks dark head and long legs.

Sound

Usually silent. Nasal barking calls at nest.

Range

Range Map

© 2004 Cornell Lab of Ornithology

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Summer Range

Breeds from South Carolina to Texas, southward through Caribbean and Central and South America.

Winter Range

Resident in breeding areas, spreads out farther during rest of year.

Other Names

Tantale d'Amérique (French)
Cigüeña americana (Spanish)
Wood Ibis (English)

Sources used to construct this page:

Coulter, M. C., J. A. Rodgers, J. C. Ogden, and F. C. Depkin. 1999. Wood Stork (Mycteria americana). In The Birds of North America, No. 409 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.