Florida

A challenge to ensure the health of wading bird populations is to have a better understanding of the altered habitats that we must now consider part of their natural history. Throughout their range endangered Wood Storks (Mycteria americana) have been reported to forage in ditches, a disparate category of linear man-made waterways. In a 52-kmP 2 P study area on the east coast of central Florida, the characteristics of hydrologically diverse ditches were quantified, and their use by Wood Storks documented during their non-breeding season. Logistic regression analyses were carried out using the ditch characteristics as independent variables and Wood Stork presence/absence as the dependent variable. This study confirms the use of these marginal wetlands, and identifies the significance of emergent vegetation on the foraging habitat selection of Wood Storks in the dry season.