,21. wood storks use their long beaks to feel around in shallow water until they find small fish, which they snap up and eat. their feeding style is dependent on the natural flood and drain cycles of the everglades. populations of wood storks in the everglades declined from an estimated 4000 pairs in the 1930s to about 250 pairs in the 1980s. which human activity has contributed most to the reduction of wood stork populations? building structures on stork breeding grounds building channels to control water flow in the everglades using stork feathers in clothes disturbing storks while boating hunting and sightseeing in the area