Emaciated Wood Stork Finds Hope

The following story about a wood stork was shared with us by The Avian Conservation Center/Center For Birds Of Prey in South Carolina.

This past June, we had a rare, special patient come into the clinic that immediately captured the hearts of our staff. The patient was a young, juvenile wood stork. At less than 1.5 kilograms (about 3.3 pounds), this little wood stork was thin and emaciated. As a growing bird, he desperately needed proper nutrition and sufficient calories!

Due to the severity of his emaciation, however, we had to be very careful about re-introducing food into his diet so as not to overwhelm his digestive system and to avoid what is known as refeeding syndrome.

We used EmerAid IC Piscivore, an easily digestible formula, to get the young wood stork’s digestive system started and to give him some much needed calories and nutrition. After a couple of days of EmerAid, we were able to start slowly introducing fish, which he took to with lots of enthusiasm!

In six short weeks, the wood stork gained over a kilogram (about 2.2 pounds) and started flying! When he was released on a marshy island in August, he immediately flew high above the trees, circled the marsh a couple of times and disappeared over the treeline.