The Story
I made this photo of a Wood Stork (Mycteria americana) at Hato Altamira in Casanare, Colombia. Males average about 2.7 kilograms. It is the only stork that breeds in North America. Its legs and feet are dark, and the toes turn pink in the breeding season. Fledged young look like adults but have a feathered head and a yellow bill. Hato Altamira is one of three ranches, with Mata de Palma and Montana, that make up El Encanto de Guanapalo, a reserve of almost 9,000 hectares of flooded savanna and gallery forest in San Luis de Palenque. IUCN lists the Wood Stork as Least Concern.
I used a Pentax K-1 with the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6 for this one, at 1/800 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100. The families who run its ranches work to keep the savanna from being cleared, burned or plowed, and to keep llanero culture alive for the next generation.
©2022 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