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53” (135); 6.5kg. huge; bill heavy, sharp-pointed, slightly upturned. Adults, plumage entirely white; head and neck bare, black except for red area at base of neck( brighter in male). Bill and legs black. Immature, head and neck covered with sparse grayish down, rest of plumage grayish more or less mixed with white. All egrets much smaller, heads and necks white; Wood Stork has black flight feathers. HABITS:
Forages in freshwater marshes, lakes and ponds; roosts and nests in tall trees, often in wooded areas far from water; usually forages singly, walking slowly and making sudden stabs for prey, especially mud-eels, but sometimes 1 or 2 hunt at edge of group of spoonbills or Wood Storks; usually wary; flies lightly and gracefully after lumbering takeoff; often soars.
STATUS:
Increasingly uncommon in Tempisque basin, the only Costa Rican breeding area; seasonally visits Caño Negro-Rio Frio area; sporadically elsewhere in Guanacaste.
RANGE:
S Mexico to E Peru and N Argentina. |
