This thoughtful Wood Stork‘s shaggy appearance makes him look like a wise old bird. But his pale, pinkish beak, and gray neck and head feathers, tell us that he is a juvenile, and distinguish him from older Wood Storks, who have dark bills and bald, scaly heads (see the ID section on All About Birds – Wood Stork)
The Wood Stork is North America’s only native breeding Stork (Florida Fish & Wildlife-Wood Stork). Once abundant in Florida, the destruction and degradation of wetlands caused their numbers to drop significantly, and they were placed on the Endangered Species List, in 1984. After 30 years, conservation efforts resulted in the Wood Storks’ status being upgraded to Threatened in 2014. They are still at risk due to on-going concerns over development and habitat loss in the Everglades and other parts of South Florida (Scientific American, June 26, 2014; Florida Audubon).
Birder's Journey 
Perhaps the most interesting of the bigger birds…my thoughts anyway 🙂
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I agree with you – and there’s something very endearing about them!
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Gorgeous capture of the juvenile. We have Wood Storks on ‘our mind’ this morning. 🙂 Thanks for sharing info, I honestly didn’t know about their endangered and threatened status’s, I’m going to add that to my post. 🙂
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Yes! It is interesting when fellow bloggers are posting about the same birds at the same time! ☺️
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We can only hope that the value of wetlands is taken more seriously by future “developers” …
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I absolutely hope so! Lots of advocacy needed all the time.
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I particularly like the first photo😊. Interesting post.
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Thanks, Belinda – That first photo was really what prompted me to make this post. I liked his thoughtful look on a beautiful morning. Once I added more information, it seemed that another photo was in order. ☺️
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Wonderful to see the wood storks here, BJ, a bird we don’t even have out on the west coast. Their range is so slight in our country, how lucky you are to have them. How lucky we are that they’ve made a bit of a comeback. Great post.
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Much appreciated, Jet! We’re very glad to see how much they enjoy our wetlands. ☀️
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Such a pity that such a charismatic bird finds itself in dire straits because of us again…
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So true…. unfortunately, too often a common theme, as you know so well.
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I always hope to see these birds again. I have seen them and photographed them only in one opportunity. Perhaps, sometime this year. Great shots, Carol. 🙂
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Thank you, HJ. Certainly worth a trip to Florida!😊
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I love the wood storks!
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They’ve always been one of my favorites, Pam. In fact, I think Wood Storks may be the very first Florida bird that I really got to know.
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It’s one of the first I saw – very striking and memorable. I was so excited!
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