..The success of a nesting season depends on many factors, all weather-related and water/food-related.
Water levels are the most critical element. Water must be deep enough to provide an adequate food supply throughout the nesting season for the adults and eventual chicks. But at the same time, the water must be shallow enough (15-18") for the adults to hunt and the levels must be slowly receding to create isolated ponds and puddles with highly concentrated fish populations so the adults can easily catch enough food; each chick requires about 440 pounds of fish from hatch to independence.
The water and food levels must be adequate from the time the adults begin to arrive in late December and January through the end of the nesting season in late May and early June. If it is not, the adults will either not nest or will abandon the nests.
Additionally, there must be water, preferably with alligators present, around the bases of the colony's nesting trees to prevent predators such as raccoons from climbing the trees and eating the eggs and just-hatched chicks.
The chicks must also fledge before the rainy season begins in earnest in late spring and early summer. Once the rains begin, water levels rise and the food supply disperses. Without that concentrated food supply to feed the nestlings, the adults will abandon the nests.
Data: 1958-1979 | 1980-present | Graph
| Year | Nestng Pairs | Young Fledged | Year | Nesting Pairs | Young Fledged | Year | Nestng Pairs | Young Fledged | ||
| Although the Sanctuary was founded in 1954, counts of nesting pairs and fledglings were not accurately recorded until 1958. | 1960 | 4,760 | 13,724 | 1970 | 1,900 | 0 | ||||
| 1961 | 6,000 | 17,000 | 1971 | 3,000 | 6,000 | |||||
| 1962 | 0 | 0 | 1972 | 1,500 | 200 | |||||
| 1963 | 3,500 | 3,000 | 1973 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 1964 | 0 | 0 | 1974 | 2,000 | 3,800 | |||||
| 1965 | 1,300 | 0 | 1975 | 3,000 | 5,900 | |||||
| 1966 | 6,000 | 3,500 | 1976 | 2,300 | 4,100 | |||||
| 1967 | 3,680 | 7,350 | 1977 | 1,050 | 0 | |||||
| 1958 | 1,450 | 990 | 1968 | 5,000 | 0 | 1978 | 1,450 | 990 | ||
| 1959 | 4,505 | 8,910 | 1969 | 3,500 | 340 | 1979 | 4,505 | 8,910 | ||
| Year | Nestng Pairs | Young Fledged | Year |
Nesting Pairs |
Young Fledged |
Year | Nestng Pairs | Young Fledged | ||
| .1980 | 1,175 | 2,140 | 1990 | 310 | 470 | 2000 | 1,721 | 2,538 | ||
| 1981 | 1,475 | 65 | 1991 | 297 | 0 | 2001 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1982 | 18 | 0 | 1992 | 1,200 | 2,750 | 2002 | 1,240 | 3,162 | ||
| 1983 | 2,850 | 970 | 1993 | 500 | 20 | 2003 | 462 | 780 | ||
| 1984 | 595 | 1,200 | 1994 | 511 | 90 | 2004 | 600 | 450 | ||
| 1985 | 353 | 530 | 1995 | 914 | 250 | 2005 | 338 | 0 | ||
| 1986 | 268 | 24 | 1996 | 600 | 1,400 | 2006 | 600 | 1,428 | ||
| 1987 | 0 | 0 | 1997 | 220 | 0 | 2007 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1988 | 755 | 1,900 | 1998 | 450 | 1,028 | 2008 | ||||
| 1989 | 0 | 0 | 1999 | 912 | 324 | 2009 |
Wood Stork Nesting: 1958-present
