Wood Storks

One of my favorite large wading birds is the Wood Stork. As the old saying goes - they are just so ugly, they're cute!

In this first photo to the left you can see the distinct difference in bill shape of the stork and the spoonbill. The stork feeds by traveling through the water with his head down, grabbing small crustaceans, frogs, lizards or whatever else he finds.

Spoonbills have a similar diet but they move through the water swinging their heads slowly from side to side, filtering food through their distinct beaks.

 In this second photo, above, you can see that this particular stork was successful in capturing a tiny fish to eat. It looks like an appetizer to me! Contrast that with the size of the fish the blue heron had that I showcased a few days ago.

 Ken calls these guys water vultures and you can see why when you look at a close up of their heads. Like vultures they are basically bald.

Juveniles may have a small tuft of head feathers. Youngsters are most identifiable by their yellow beaks like this young fellow to the right. In another similarity with vultures, storks do not seem to be averse to eating carrion. In this photo the two are sharing parts of a decaying fish they have pulled into pieces.