The first photo was taken by KD Dijkstra at Weg naar Zee,
Suriname in September 2007, the second picture comes from Carl
Beel, also made in Suriname but in the interior (Babunhol 80 km
from sea, December 2009). The third picture was taken even
farther from the sea (some 250 km inland) near Palumeu where
migrating Woodstorks sometimes pass. The group of ten birds was
seen by Pieter Theunissen in June 2009.
The woodstork has his head and part of his neck black, wrinkled
and almost without feathers. They are often found in groups in
freshwater swamps, along the coast but sometimes also in flooded
savannas, farther from the coast, where they eat fish, snails and
molluscs in shallow water. Woodstorks can glide on their wings
for large distances, first gaining height by circling and then
glide to the horizon. All the world's storks do this.
The number of woodstorks in Suriname seems to diminish steadily.
In the seventies (and before that time) a breeding colony existed
in Suriname and thousands of birds were counted sometimes in one
place. Since then the number of birds seen is gone down to
several dozen and no colony is found. It seems that now and in
the past, most woodstorks came from colonies ouside Suriname.
Most groups of birds were reported in June and July, when also
the largest groups were seen. The nest is a large platform in a
tree, made of wooden sticks and growing each year.
Each small square indicates the observation of at least one (group) of these birds, the medium ones at least 4 observations on different days and the largest ones 10 or more. The color of each square indicates: blue for coastal area, yellow for savanna and red for rainforest. Mainly found along the coast, but also far inland on flooded savannas like Sipaliwini (yellow, in the south) and sometimes flying over in between (Raleigh Falls, red).
The number of reported sightings of groups of woodstorks in Suriname. The larger groups were seen between Februari and July. Most birds, now and in the past probably breed elsewhere.
| Distribution in Suriname (explanation) | |
| Coastal area |  |
| Savanna |  |
| Forests |  |
| Mountain forests | |
| Sipalawini savanna |  |
Names in:
More pictures of birds from Suriname
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