Mycteria americana
Silhouette: Mathieu Basille · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The wood stork (Mycteria americana) is a large wading bird in the family Ciconiidae (storks). Originally described in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus, this stork is native to the subtropics and tropics of the Americas, where it persists in habitats with fluctuating water levels. It is the only stork species that breeds in North America. The head and neck are bare of feathers, and dark grey in colour. The plumage is mostly white, with the exception of the tail and some of the wing feathers, which are black with a greenish-purplish sheen.
Globally, the wood stork is considered to be of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. In the United States, the wood stork was previously classified as endangered due to loss of suitable feeding habitat in the Florida Everglades, its historical population stronghold in the country. The species has been subsequently downlisted to threatened after northward range expansion and increased population size.
The wood stork was first formally given its binomial name Mycteria americana by Linnaeus in 1758. Linnaeus originally named two separate species, M. americana and Tantalus loculator, based on different and... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Panama City | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 2 | Miami | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Orlando | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Santa Cruz de la Sierra | 🇧🇴 Bolivia | |
| 5 | San Pedro Sula | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 6 | Denver | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Goiânia | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 8 | Barranquilla | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 9 | Belém | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 10 | Brasilia | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SeaWorld Orlando | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Parque das Aves | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Zoológico de Brasília | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 4 | Sedgwick County Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | São Paulo Zoo | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 7 | ZooTampa | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Gatorland | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Houston Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Aviario Nacional de Colombia | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 11 | Discovery Cove | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 12 | Mangal das Garças | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 13 | Parque Zoobotânico do Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 14 | Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 15 | Santa Fe College Teaching Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 16 | El Nispero Zoo | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 17 | St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 18 | Jacques Huber Aquarium | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 19 | Seaside Seabird Sanctuary | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 20 | Zoológico Miguél Álvarez del Toro | 🇲🇽 Mexico |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Wood Stork sighting in El Palmar National Park on a given day, based on 21 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 136th most-seen of the 151 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
December to February
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Wood Stork in El Palmar National Park on a given day, against under 5% in March to November, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Wood Stork sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
28th of 53
Of the 53 parks where we can rate Wood Stork sightings, El Palmar National Park ranks 28th at under 5%. The best odds are in Palo Verde National Park (Costa Rica, about 70%), Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas (Brazil, about 60%) and Big Cypress National Preserve (United States, about 50%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Wood Stork is recorded against all the birds logged in El Palmar National Park (21 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
