Original Oil Painting on Canvas

30" H x 40" W, price on request.

(Orders and information: linda@relisart.com)

Available in mixed Florida Birds notecards

Wood Storks

The Wood Stork, as familiar to the great wetland vistas of South Florida as any other animal, has again been thrust into the spotlight.   

In the 1930’s, the Wood Stork population in the United States was approximately 60,000. Today, the National Audubon Society estimates that there are only 4,000 to 5,600 nesting pairs. Conditions such as hydrological changes, ecological shifts,  geological transformations, and atmospheric modifications have played a significant role in the rapid decline of the Wood Stork. Worldwide, there are 17 species of storks but only the Wood Stork is regularly found in the United States. 

From an oil painting artist's prespective, the Wood Stork is a challenging subject. "En plein air" is a French expression which means "in the open air", and is particularly used to describe the act of painting outdoors. To paint the wood stork in natural light and in its environment means going where they reside. 

Finding the Wood Stork in South Florida is a challenge. By 1995, fewer than 500 pairs of Wood Storks were nesting in the Everglades National Park and Big Cypress National Preserve area of South Florida. If recent trends continue, Wood Storks may no longer be able to survive in south Florida.