Wood Stork!
The stork's original name was Wood Ibis with nick-names like Flint-head and Gourd-head.The wood stork is a large bird, handsome yet ugly, graceful yet sluggish, very noisy when young, and quiet when older. Adults have a 5½ foot wingspan, scaly looking legs, bare skin neck and a very large menacing looking beak which is commonly called a"bill." A bird's beak is one the most important parts of its body no matter what size or shape. Unless you are an ornithologist, the secrets for the use of a bird's beak are not well known. Even though you love to just look at the birds, here's some information about the beaks of these wood storks. Beaks serve to help them preen their feathers, build nests, turn eggs, and hatch the babies. 
The name wood stork implies that the bird is found in the woods. Not true! They will be found in swamps, shallow water areas, meadows, around mangroves, and in cypress tree swamps. They love to nest in tall cypress trees that stand in water. Their nests are made out of sticks and are refurbished continually with more sticks, fine materials, and soft leaves. They colonize in groups of up to 25 nests; some of which are placed far out on a horizontal limb and will touch each other occasionally. Wood storks are fish and aquatic invertebrate eaters. They forage by moving their open bill in the mud and water. During this time their feet do a stingray shuffle with a "let's eat" attitude. When their beak contacts food, it triggers a rapid snap-reflex resulting in a live catch, and it's down the hatch. Some of its food is regurgitated later to feed the babies. If heavy rains occur causing high water, it limits the areas in which they can feed. Sometimes this causes a whole colony of wood storks to abandon their eggs and young. 
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