The Story
I photographed this juvenile Wood Stork (Mycteria americana) at Hacienda La Cabaña, near Tauramena, Casanare, Colombia, in January 2020. It lives in tropical and subtropical America, in places where water levels rise and fall. It is the only stork that breeds in North America. Its head and neck are bare and dark gray, and its long, downcurved bill is very wide at the base. It feeds by touch, walking slowly with its bill in the water, so it needs shallow water crowded with fish. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I made this frame with a Pentax K-1 and the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6, at 1/800 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100. In the United States it has recovered from endangered to threatened, and in Santa Catarina, Brazil, it is again seen regularly after decades of absence.
©2020 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Wood Stork (Mycteria americana) belongs to the family Ciconiidae (Storks) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2025). Source: IUCN Red List
