Dancing Beak to Beak

by AnnaJo Vahle

Title

Dancing Beak to Beak

Artist

AnnaJo Vahle

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

Near St. Augustine area in Florida earlier this year, we looked up in the trees and saw this wonderful sight. A pair of storks were going through their mating ritual.

Wood Storks breed in fresh and brackish forested wetlands. They forage in wetlands, swamps, ponds, and marshes with water depths of around 4–12 inches. They tend to use open wetlands more frequently for foraging than closed canopy wetlands. Storks roost in trees along the water's edge.


Wood Storks nest in trees above standing water. They build nests in cypress swamps, in oaks in flooded impoundments, in mangroves, and in flooded areas with black gum and Australian pine. Almost any tree or shrub will do as long as standing water is present.

Males and females gather sticks from the surrounding areas. Together they build a large, bulky stick nest 3–5 feet wide. They line the nest with greenery that eventually gets covered in guano, which helps hold the nest together. Nest building typically takes 2–3 days, but the pair continues to make improvements throughout the nesting period.

Wood Storks are social birds that forage in groups and nest in colonies. Small groups of storks forage in wetlands, frequently following each other one by one in a line. In the late afternoon, when temperatures rise, Wood Storks often take to the sky, soaring on thermals like raptors. They nest in tight colonies with egrets and herons and generally show little aggression, but if a bird or mammal threatens them, they may pull their neck in, fluff up their feathers, and walk toward the intruder. Threats are also met with bill clattering and jabbing. Despite the myth that Wood Storks mate for life, pairs form at the breeding colony and stay together only for a single breeding season. Males initially are hostile to the female, but once he accepts her into the territory he starts preening her and offering her sticks.

Wood storks are the only nesting storks in the United States. They are our largest wading bird. They are also endearingly called “flinthead” or “ironhead” by some.

Uploaded

August 14th, 2020

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