Wildlife center has nesting storks

Laura Young
ECB Publishing, Inc.

The North Florida Wildlife Center (NFWC) in Lamont, Fla., is incredibly excited that their European white storks have finally nested. Stella, an 18-year-old female, arrived at NFWC in 2019 from a zoological facility in California. In 2021 they welcomed Fernando, a 30-year-old male from the Gulf Breeze Zoo in the Florida Panhandle. Both Stella and Fernando are still considered to be young, as large birds such as storks can live to be more than 60+ years old in captivity under the right conditions. For both birds, this is their first time nesting.”
NFWC Executive Director Ryan Reines says, “Originally, we thought the pair might not be compatible. They showed no interest in each other, and beyond that, seemed to always be fighting. Then suddenly one day a couple months ago, like day to night, they were inseparable. Within days they were building a nest – which is now about six feet in diameter and growing! In the wild they would have built their nest on a dead tree, rocky outcrop or even a rooftop. Our European white storks are unable to fly, and so they chose the highest point in their habitat underneath a massive oak tree to build their nest.”
Reines reports that Stella and Fernando now are tending to four huge white eggs, which are due to hatch by mid to late May. Both storks are involved with the parental duties. They take turns adding material to the nest and incubating, and give each other breaks to eat and rest.
“These birds have become less threatened with extinction in recent years,” says Reines, “though poaching, poisoning, electrocution and habitat loss are still major factors affecting wild populations.” According to the Storks in Motion Research Groups, the white stork is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.
Wild European white storks live in Europe and the Middle-East most of the year but migrate to Southern Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa during the fall/winter. There are only a few dozen individuals of this species in zoological facilities in the United States.
“Our female, Stella, is unrelated to all other individuals of her species in the country,” says Reines, “and so her genetics, and her offsprings' genetics, are highly valuable and important to maintaining genetic diversity in American captive European white storks.”
NFWC is located at 1386 Cook Rd. in Lamont. Reservations are required for guided tours, and self-guided tours are not available at this time. To learn more about the many animals living at NFWC and to plan a visit, go to www.northfloridawildlife.org or call (850) 347-0921.