Friday, July 10, 2009

July 10, 2009



This is a Wood Stork. Did you notice the band on his leg?

Here is something interesting about Wood Storks: they have a very unique foraging technique. A stork walks with its partially open bill in the water, swinging it in an arc or probing with it in the mud and vegetation. When the bill makes contact with prey, it snaps shut with an extremely rapid reflex snap (25 milliseconds). This technique is effective in shallow water where prey are dense, therefore storks are seen an indicators of healthy wetlands. There you have it, our pasture outside our house is a healthy wetland with storks (and you thought the interesting tidbit of info was going to be about their baby delivering occupation). See, this blog is full of interesting tips and pointers!

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