Wood Stork

Wood Stork

Wood Stork (Mycteria americana), Searching for his favorite foods of fish, reptiles or amphibians at the Thompson Sports Complex in Gulfport, FL.

Wood Storks or as they are sometimes called Wood Ibis, are the only storks in America. They can be found in Florida in swamps, marshes and ponds.

Wood Stork

Wood Stork

This Wood Stork was probing for dinner in the pond at the Thompson Sports Complex Park, in Gulfport, FL. The Wood Stork is the only real stork we have in the United States.

Wood Storks stand between 40-44" tall. Their heads are bare. They fly with their necks extended. Wood Storks can be found on or near the coast, cypress swamps and mangroves. They nest in colonies. Wood Storks are resident in Florida and Georgia and rarely along the coast from S Carolina to Texas.

White Ibis (Eudocimus albus)

White Ibis (Eudocimus albus)

This White Ibis is only one of a flock of maybe 25 who decided to visit me on the edge of the little pond at Thompson Sports Complex Park in Gulfport, FL.

They can be found in the deep south and are very common in the Tampa Bay area. They are friendly birds and will rarely fly off if a human comes around. In this case, it was exactly the opposite. The moment I appeared, these guys decided to join me. It was difficult to get one alone. This guy was only a few feet from me, making it very easy to get this capture.

They eat insects and continuously probe the grass and the water looking for food. They are fairly large birds at 22-26 inches tall. They weigh about 2 1/2 lbs. These birds are social and nest in trees at night.

Please Help With ID

ID Wanted

I've posted photos of this duck and his/her mate about a year ago. I'm still trying to find out what kind of duck this is. With all the nature photographers out there, I can't believe no one knows what it is called. I've only found one other photo of ducks that look like this through Google and I think it was the same pair. Whoever posted it didn't include the name, so it was no help.

They are so pretty. They hang on a little pond in Gulfport, FL along with some Mottled Ducks, White Ibis, a pure white duck, a few Mallards and a couple of Moorhens. There is only 1 pair of them. They are much larger and longer-backed than Mallards as you can see in this photo.

Your help is greatly appreciated. Thanks for looking.