Wednesday, January 20, 2021

Juvenile Wood Stork

Seven or eight wood storks hang around a small pond in my community.  Wood storks are considered "threatened," which is one step healthier than "endangered," so having a large group nearby is good.

In this group, more than half are juveniles, identifiable because they still have hair on their necks.

This guy looks like he was singing, but wood storks are mostly silent.  I was pretty close and couldn't hear anything.  He held his bill open long enough that it probably wasn't a yawn.  And it wasn't a hot day, so it wasn't panting.  I did a google search but didn't easily find an explanation for this behavior.

3 comments:

Barbara Rogers said...

He/she is a neat but slightly ugly critter...until they fly, then I think they're beautiful. Maybe open mouth is just like smiling!

RedPat said...

He looks like he is talking to you!

William Kendall said...

He looks ungainly, but that's part of the charm.