Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/127088
Sarasota News Leader May 3, 2013 I also love the part about "screaming for food," because Wood Storks only eat very small fish, and the average nesting Mama and Papa, with just two chicks (they can have up to four chicks), will require 400 pounds of fish just for a three-month period. That is a phenomenal amount of fish. A parent must regularly fly anywhere from 5 to 12 miles from the nest to forage for fish — during a sudden drought, even further. One Papa Stork was documented flying 75 miles (one-way!) and not returning until the next day. An overnight fishing trip is very stressful Page 89 for the nesting Mama bird, who is not certain that her mate will safely return with food, or return at all. The Florida Wood Stork is still considered an endangered species. Let me explain why this has happened. Wood Storks mature — i.e., are able to breed — by their third to fourth year. In Florida, they can only mate and begin nesting during our dry season, so they can capture fish in shrinking pools of water. They appear able to refrain from breeding in Florida if our dry season has been unseasonably rainy and the level of their wading waters too high for