The White Stork is the one that brings the babies in fairy tales. It rarely nests in Britain though visits here in the summer. It is a long-distance migrant wintering in Africa or India and breeding in Europe. Storks avoid crossing the Mediterranean Sea and detour via Turkey in the east, or the Straits of Gibraltar in the west, because the air thermals they need for soaring do not form over water. Fossils show Storks have been around for over 6 million years!
The White Stork is mainly white with black on its wings, long red legs and a long, pointed red bill. Males, females and youngsters look identical except the young Storks have duller bills. They don't get their full adult plumage until their second summer. Like a Crane, Storks fly with legs and necks extended and use thermals to soar. On migration, thousands will travel together.
A carnivore, the White Stork eats a wide range of animals, including insects, fish, amphibians, reptiles, small mammals and small birds. It takes most of its food from the ground or from shallow water. They hunt mainly during the day, swallowing small prey whole, but killing and then breaking larger prey apart first. Like Gulls, they are partial to a nice landfill site.
White Storks breed in loose colonies on open farmland with access to marshy areas, building a large stick nest in trees or on buildings. The nests are reused year after year. The male arrives first and picks the nest site (the bigger the better) and attracts a female who helps him finish it. Courtship involves head-shaking crouching displays and the clattering of beaks. Mum lays 4 eggs which hatch after 34 days in the order they were laid, giving the first chick a competitive edge over the others. Both parents feed the chicks by disgorging (sicking up) food into the nest. They may kill weaker chicks if food is scarce. The youngsters can fly after 60 days and continue to be fed for a further week or so. They won't breed themselves for 4 years. Other birds, like Sparrows and Starlings, will often nest within empty Stork nests.
Changes in farming methods and industrialisation saw the White Stork decline and disappear from Britain and parts of Europe in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Conservation and reintroduction programs across Europe have resulted in the White Stork resuming breeding in the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, and Sweden. Reintroduction programmes are also being tried here. However, this is difficult as Storks are highly social birds and won't establish themselves in an area unless they find other Storks already there. The oldest known wild White Stork lived for 39 years.
Their Latin name is 'ciconia ciconia' where 'ciconia' is Latin for 'stork'. Storks are divided into three broad groups: the Wood Storks, the Giant Storks, and the 'typical' Storks (like the White Stork).