FORAGING HABITAT USE BY WOOD STORKS NESTING IN THE COASTAL ZONE OF GEORGIA, USA

We studied foraging habitat use of Wood Storks (Mycteria americana) fr om three coastal colonies using United States Fish and Wildlife Servic e National Wetlands Inventory data within a geographic information sys tem (CIS). Observers followed storks from breeding colonies to foragin g sites in a fixed-winged aircraft. The main objectives of the study w ere to estimate the foraging range of each Wood Stork colony, determin e what wetland types were used in relation to their availability and s patial distribution, and determine how foraging habitat use was relate d to tidal stage. Storks foraged in tidal creeks during lower tide lev els when prey were concentrated in shallower water and foraged more in palustrine (freshwater) wetlands when tide levels were high. Predicta bility of foraging habitat use based on habitat distribution varied am ong colonies and depended on how wetland types were aggregated. Foragi ng locations were spatially clustered, in some cases by habitat type ( estuarine vs, palustrine). These spatial clusterings may be explained by the proximity of a foraging location to the colony and by the habit at types around the colony. Storks also flew longer distances to forag e in palustrine sites than in estuarine sites.