Birds · Ciconiiformes · Ciconiidae

Wood Stork

Mycteria americana

Least Concern

The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary

A large wading bird with white plumage except for the tail and flight feathers, which are black with greenish and purplish iridescence. The head and neck are entirely bare and dark grey, and the bill, long and broad at the base, curves downwards in a characteristic way. Juveniles keep a feathered head and a yellow bill.

Weight

2.5 kg on average

Size

85 cm – 1.2 m

Lifespan

30 years

Diet

Piscivore

Feeds mainly on fish.

Activity

Diurnal

Active mainly during the day.

Social structure

Colony

Lives in large concentrations, often for breeding reasons.

Sighting difficulty

Easy

Estimated population

Some 250,000 birds worldwide, around 30,000 of them in the United States, with an increasing trend

FreshwaterPiscivore Diurnal Colonial Bird Freshwater

42countries 12parks6same family

Fun facts

alimentaciónIt finds its prey mainly by touch, holding its bill half open in the murky water and snapping it shut by reflex within milliseconds of feeling a fish.
Like the rest of the Mycteria storks, it hunts by touch: it detects prey with the sensitive tip of its bill in murky water where it could not see them.
In flight it stretches its neck out and trails its legs, unlike the herons, which draw the neck back into an S.
Its toes turn pink during the breeding season.

Life cycle & biology

Skeleton type: Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)
Habitat & environment: Tropical and subtropical wetlands of the Americas and the Caribbean
Size at birth: Semi-altricial chicks, fed by both parents on regurgitated fish, which depend on them for 55 to 60 days until they fly
Sexual maturity: 4 years
Gestation / incubation: 30 days
Litter / clutch size: 3
Lifespan in captivity: A captive individual reached 27 years