Jacksonville Florida Zoo and Gardens :: Wood Stork

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There was a nice colony of wood storks at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens, I was fascinated by their nesting in the trees.

Below, nests in the trees, one occupied (look to the left side of the photo).

There is an informative page at National Geographic about wood storks,  Mycteria americana, where you can learn that they live from 11 to 18 years, weigh 4.5 to 5.8 lbs, stand 33 to 45 inches and have a wing span of 4.9 to 5.8 ft.  That makes this tree nesting even more fascinating to me.  Creatures that heavy nesting that far up in trees, brings new meaning to the phrase, swinging in the wind.  The signage at the park indicates that a pair of wood storks must find 440 pounds of fish to feed themselves and their chicks each nesting season.




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