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Wood storks make nests 60 feet off the ground in cypress trees. 4 or 5 eggs are laid, with chicks hatching in about a month. Generally 2 chicks per nest will survive in a successful breeding season. Both parents watch over the nest and take turns feeding chicks up to 15 times a day for 8 weeks. It takes 400 pounds of fish to feed a pair of wood storks and their chicks in a typical breeding season. In the Florida Everglades, the Wood Stork has declined from 6,000 nesting birds to just 500 since the 1960's. They are considered an "indicator species", that is, the health of their population is an indicator of the health of both the wetlands they inhabit and most of the other birds and animals that share the environment. |
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