Stats

Lifespan

11-18 yrs

Size

Large

Diet

Carnivore

Activity

Diurnal

Social

Colony

Biome

Freshwater wetland

Range

The Americas

Movement

Flight

Breeding

Egg-laying

Defense

Flight

Status

Common

About

This large wading bird stalks through the swamps and wetlands of the Americas. It hunts by keeping its bill open in the water and snapping it shut in 25 milliseconds.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   egg

   A clutch of eggs is incubated in the nest, kept warm by a brooding parent until the chicks pip free.
2. 2.
   hatchling

   A naked or downy hatchling is fed in the nest by its parents.
3. 3.
   juvenile

   A feathered juvenile fledges from the nest and learns to fly and forage.
4. 4.
   adult

   Fully grown with adult plumage.

Learn more

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Taxonomy

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Aves

Order

Ciconiiformes

Family

Ciconiidae

Genus

Mycteria

Species

Mycteria americana