Wood Stork to be Removed from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife

Today, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) published a final rule removing the Southeast U.S. distinct population segment of the Wood Stork (Mycteria americana) from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife. The rule is effective March 12, 2026.

A flock of Wood Storks flies over the forest canopy with downtown Panama City behind, as viewed from Canopy Tower, Panama. Photo by Marcus C. England of England|Ecology, taken December 4, 2021.

The US breeding population of Wood Stork was listed as an endangered species under the Federal Endangered Species Act in 1984, due to a population decline of 75 percent over a 50-year time period starting in the 1930s. The Service downlisted the stork from endangered to threatened and defined the Southeast U.S. distinct population segment in 2014. The proposal to delist the Wood Stork based on recovery was published in February 2023.