KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — The only native stork in North America, which lives in Tennessee for part of the summer, may soon be delisted from the Endangered Species list according to the U.S. Department of the Interior.
According to a tweet shared by the Department, the potential delisting of the Wood Stork reflects a successful conservation and recovery effort that spans four decades.
The Wood Stork mainly live in Florida, some areas of southeast Georgia, and a small corner of South Carolina near Georgia Board and the coast according to the National Audubon Society. The Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency says that occasionally between mid July and September, the storks can be found in marshes, shallow ponds and mudflats in Tennessee.
Notable markings of the bird are its dark head and beak as well as the black markings on the edge of its wings. Growing to a little over three feet long, the bird has a 61 inch wingspan but only weights around 5 pounds according to TWRA.
FILE – In this Nov. 27, 2005 file photo, a wood stork prepares to land in a tree at Big Cypress National Preserve, Fla. Federal officials say the population of endangered wood storks has rebounded to the point where they can now be classified as threatened. Some environmentalists object to the proposed upgraded status, though, saying significant threats remain for the birds, particularly in the Everglades, where they once thrived but most recently have fled. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File) 
An adult wood stork comes in for a landing during a tour of the of the Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge by United States Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell in Townsend, Ga., Thursday, June 26, 2014. Jewell announced Thursday that the federal government is upgrading the wood stork to a “threatened” species a step up from endangered that indicates the birds are no longer considered at risk of extinction. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton) 
In this Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2019, photo, a wood stork sits on a treetop near Fort Myers, Fla. The species has been down listed from endangered to threatened, however new studies show invasive pythons are now increasing targeting wading birds.(AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) 
FILE – A wood stork calls out from treetop on Oct. 29, 2019, near Fort Myers, Fla. The ungainly yet graceful wood stork, which was on the brink of extinction in 1984, has recovered sufficiently in Florida and other Southern states that U.S. wildlife officials on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023, proposed removing the wading bird from the endangered species list. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)
The population of Wood Storks was on the decline since the 1960s because of water management practices in South Florida and the loss of habitat in the Everglades, TWRA said. While that timeframe was around five to six decades ago, the living Wood Storks may only be a few generations removed from those that were alive in the ’60s. According to TWRA, the Wood Stork can live for between 20 and 30 years.
