White Stork
Ciconia ciconia
Conservation Status
Least ConcernAves · Ciconiiformes · Ciconiidae
About
The white stork is a large bird in the stork family, Ciconiidae. Its plumage is mainly white, with black on the bird's wings. Adults have long red legs and long pointed red beaks, and measure on average 100–115 cm (39–45 in) from beak tip to end of tail, with a 155–215 cm (61–85 in) wingspan. The two subspecies, which differ slightly in size, breed in Europe north to Finland, northwestern Africa, Palearctic east to southern Kazakhstan and southern Africa. The white stork is a long-distance migrant, wintering in Africa from tropical Sub-Saharan Africa to as far south as South Africa, or on the Indian subcontinent. When migrating between Europe and Africa, it avoids crossing the Mediterranean Sea and detours via the Levant in the east or the Strait of Gibraltar in the west, because the air thermals on which it depends for soaring do not form over water.
Fun Fact
White Storks are central to European folklore as baby-bringers and travel over 20,000 km round-trip between Europe and sub-Saharan Africa each year.
Quick Facts
Habitat
Restricted to a region in central Asia between the Aral Sea and Xinjiang in western China.
Diet
Carnivore
Lifespan
39 years (captivity)
Threats
- Habitat Change
- Human Disturbance