SREL Reprint #2341

Food of nestling wood storks in coastal Georgia

A. Lawrence Bryan, Jr. and Joan C. Gariboldi

Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, P.O. Drawer E, Aiken, SC 29802, USA

Abstract: Types of prey consumed by endangered Wood Stork (Mycteria americana) in coastal habitats have received little study. We documented prey items fed to stork nestlings in two coastal and two inland colonies in Georgia in 1995. Fish from brackish/saltwater habitats dominated the coastal regurgitation samples, making up 65-93% of individual prey items and 49-74% of prey biomass collected. Mummichogs (Fundulus heteroclitus) were the most common single prey item found in the coastal samples. Inter-colony differences in the remaining coastal prey species were presumably due to differences in foraging habitat type (freshwater vs. saltwater) and their proximity to each colony. Prey from saltwater habitats were significantly shorter and weighed less than prey from freshwater habitats.  Freshwater prey items fed to nestlings in all four colonies were reasonably similar, containing varying percentages (frequency and biomass) of redfin pickerel (Esox americanus), bullhead (Ameiurus spp.) and sunfish (Centrarchidae).

Keywords: coastal, food habits, Georgia, Mycteria americana, nestlings, prey, regurgitant, Wood Stork

SREL Reprint #2341

Bryan, A.L., Jr. and J.C. Gariboldi. 1998. Food of nestling wood storks in coastal Georgia. Colonial Waterbirds 21:152-158.

This information was provided by the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (srel.uga.edu).