Wood Stork
Mycteria americana
Call and song
Recording 1 · begging call
Recording 2
Recording 3
About the Wood Stork
Huge, long-legged, black-and-white waterbird, about the size of Great Blue Heron. White body with black flight feathers. Adults have a wrinkly bald head and fairly dark bill; juveniles have paler bill and more messy feathering on head and neck. Bill is thicker and more curved than herons. Forages mainly for fish by moving open bill through water until it feels prey. Found in wetlands, particularly flooded swamps and shallow ponds. Often soars, sometimes with vultures. In Middle and South America, compare with Jabiru, which is even larger than Wood Stork and has entirely white wings.
Species account: eBird.org, fetched 2025-12-26 · How these pages are made
Where it has been recorded
Recorded in 29 of the 253 countries we have eBird lists for. Each opens that country's checklist.
