Wanderlust World Wanderlust World Georgia's coastal areas, marshlands and varied terrain make it a natural habitat for cranes and storks---wading birds that are threatened by development of their nesting grounds and feeding areas. There are still nesting storks in Georgia. Both the sandhill and the wood stork can be found in the state. And the endangered whooping crane is making a sufficient comeback to be spotted occasionally in wetlands and near shallow lakes.
Wood storks live year-round in habitat they find congenial in isolated, coastal areas of Georgia. They like to nest high in cypress trees---about 50 to 80 feet above the ground. They are a federally endangered species and considered endangered as well in Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina. The most critical loss of habitat for the wood stork is attributed to changes in the Florida wetlands, which used to have endless cypress swamps but have now been drained and developed. Wood storks have a five-foot wing span, white body, black legs, tail and wing tips and a distinctive yellow, curved beak. Wood storks are the only stork that breeds in the United States---females lay just three eggs---but the birds do not breed until they are four years old. The eggs are incubated by both male and female birds.
Sandhill cranes live in open grasslands and freshwater marshes in North and Central America and Cuba and can be found in Georgia. Populations are considered stable enough to be hunted in some mid-American states. The bird has a long neck, gray body, red head and pointed black beak. It has a distinctive cry and is famous for its intricate courtship dance. The birds bond for most of a year while they mate, incubate eggs and raise their young. Sandhill cranes do not breed until they are two to seven years old, and their numbers have been dangerously low at times due to the loss of strategic wetlands where they like to congregate in large flocks during migration. Sandhill cranes live to be 20 years or older in the wild under normal conditions.
The whooping crane was once so endangered that only 15 or 16 of the birds were left in the wild. Today, around 500 whooping cranes exist in conservation breeding programs and in the wild. Their preferred habitat is freshwater marshes and grassy prairies. When they migrate they spend time in saltwater marshes, shallow lakes and grain fields. The birds are territorial and bond in pairs and in families---a new couple will often nest near their parents. They are the tallest birds in North America, with long dark legs and beaks, red foreheads and cheeks, plumed white feathers and a ruffled rear section. Their unique cry is easy to recognize. Whooping cranes are still endangered but, as their population grows, the birds have been spotted in rural areas of Georgia.