A substantial wading bird that looks sort of like an ancient pterodactyl has actually used up residence at Cypress Wetlands in Port Royal this spring, nesting and producing young.
Birders are next to themselves.
“Having proof that we have wood storks actually breeding here in the Lowcountry at a special place like Cypress Wetlands is such great news,” says Jenn Clementoni, an experienced birder and master biologist who serves on the board of Friends of Cypress Wetlands.
Bald-headed wood storks, which are white with 5 1/2-foot wingspans, started emerging at Cypress Wetlands in the 2000s, Clementoni said.
But this year, they have arrived in greater numbers. And they are nesting for the first time.
Clementoni also has documented two roseate spoonbill at Cypress this spring, another unusual-looking bird that stands out.
Younger roseate spoonbills are pale pink while adults are a vibrant magenta pink.
“The more shrimp and crabs they eat around here, the pinker they get,” Clementoni says.
Clementoni believes more wood storks and spoonbills are coming to the area because of a loss of habitat in areas such as the Everglades in Florida.
“What they’re doing now is moving north and looking for brand-new areas,” Clementoni says.
The northward migration of the birds is a good case for why conservation of the Lowcountry wetlands is essential, Clementoni said. It likewise “shows what proper stormwater management can do,” included Clementoni. Cypress Wetlands acts as a stormwater management system that gathers and handles stormwater for the town of Port Royal.
Clementoni has actually counted 16 wood stork sets this year consisting of 5 that are nesting and one that has actually produced a set of infant wood storks. The wood storks have actually colonized one tree, she said.
With the huge wing period and long, knife-like beaks, wood storks are turning heads at Cypress, where hundreds of egrets and heron species gather in nests to nest and roost.
“People aren’t used to seeing them so they are fascinated,” Clementoni says.
To Clementoni, their ancient functions make them look comparable to a pterodactyl, the flying reptile of the dinosaur days.
“They dwarf an eagle,” Clementoni says of wood storks.
Another uncommon function is their knees, which buckle backwards.
Rosetta spoonbills and wood storks are both wading birds that feed in shallow water so Cypress is a perfect place for them because it doesn’t have big tidal swings, Clementoni says. They likewise are social, implying they will utilize the very same nests.
With wood storks now colonizing at Cypress Wetlands, Clementoni is enthusiastic that spoonbills will begin nesting there, too.
South Carolina now represents 20% of the wood stork population, according to the Audubon Society. The types is a typical nesting bird from seaside Mexico and northern Argentina throughout interior South America, the Caribbean islands of Cuba and Hispaniola and north to the southeastern United States, consisting of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission.
