Endangered wood storks have established their largest breeding colony in the United States not in an isolated rural preserve or large reserved habitat, but just a few miles from downtown Charleston in the Dill Sanctuary on James Island in the Stono River. According to The State, at least 40 breeding pairs of the wading birds have been counted in the area, up from only 11 breeding pairs in the entire state 30 years ago. Today, there are more than 2,000 pairs of breeding wood storks in South Carolina.

The Charleston Museum owns the 580-acre Dill Sanctuary and while the preserve is not open to the public, the birds are frequently seen in adjacent public areas. Wood storks are the only stork native to North America and their range includes other areas in the Southeast, including Florida wetlands where they can be found year-round but where their numbers are declining. It is hoped that the Dill Sanctuary and other preserves can provide more suitable nesting sites to stabilize the birds' population.

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Wood Stork
Photo © Larry Hennessy

Wood Storks Choose Charleston originally appeared on About.com Birding / Wild Birds on Tuesday, July 27th, 2010 at 07:39:43.

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