The white stork (Ciconia ciconia) is a large migratory bird, easily recognizable by its predominantly white plumage, contrasting with its black wings. It has a long neck and slender red legs, perfectly adapted for walking in marshy areas. Its long, pointed beak is bright red and used to catch a wide variety of prey, including insects, frogs, fish, and small mammals. The white stork is also famously associated with folklore as a symbol of fertility and good fortune. In flight, it extends its neck forward and its legs backward.
Scientific Classification:
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Chordata
- Class: Aves
- Order: Ciconiiformes
- Family: Ciconiidae
- Genus: Ciconia
- Species: Ciconia ciconia
Dimensions and Weight: The white stork measures between 100 and 115 cm in length, with a wingspan ranging from 155 to 215 cm. Adult birds weigh between 2.5 and 4.5 kg. Its large size and broad wings allow it to glide for long distances during migration, making it an efficient long-distance traveler.
Habitat: White storks prefer open habitats, such as grasslands, pastures, wetlands, and farmlands, where they can find ample food. They generally avoid dense forests. During the breeding season, they build large nests on trees, buildings, or poles using sticks, mud, and vegetation. White storks are long-distance migrants, spending the summer in Europe and migrating to sub-Saharan Africa for the winter.
Behavior and Habits: White storks are monogamous and often return to the same nest year after year, improving and reusing it over time. These nests can grow very large and heavy. The stork is known for its social behavior during migration, forming large flocks that use thermal currents to glide over long distances without constant wing-flapping. During the breeding season, the female lays between 3 to 5 eggs, which are incubated by both parents for about a month. After hatching, the chicks remain in the nest for approximately two months before they are ready to fly.
Dangers, Enemies, and Threats: Adult white storks have few natural predators, but eggs and chicks may be attacked by birds of prey, carnivorous mammals, or snakes. However, the main threats to this species come from human activities. Habitat loss, pesticide use, and rural electrification (via power lines and poles) pose significant risks to stork populations. Additionally, climate change may affect their migratory patterns and food availability.
Protected or Endangered Species: The white stork is a protected species in many countries, particularly in Europe, where conservation efforts have helped stabilize and increase its populations. Thanks to habitat protection projects and the installation of nesting platforms, the white stork has recovered much of its historic population in regions such as Germany, Poland, and Spain. In some countries, it is considered a cultural symbol associated with good luck and prosperity.
References__________________________________________________________________________
Schleper S. Victims and diplomats: European white stork conservation efforts, animal representations, and images of expertise in postwar ornithology. Sci Context. 2022 Sep;35(3):294-313. doi: 10.1017/S0269889724000024.
Abstract. This article discusses two approaches to save the European white stork populations from extinction that emerged after 1980. Despite the shared objective to devise transnational, science-based conservation measures, the two approaches' geographical focus was radically different. Projects by the World Wildlife Fund and the International Council for Bird Preservation focused firmly on the stork's wintering areas on the African continent. Interventions by a second group of ornithologists at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Radolfzell concentrated on the Middle East as a migration bottleneck. Based on archival research, interviews and correspondence with involved ornithologists, the article examines stork representations as an important lens for investigating the professional politics of ecology and conservation. It shows that representations of white storks, the birds' ecology, and derived conservation hotspots became part of the boundary work used by European ornithologists in the creation of changing scientific and institutional identities.
Kamiński P, Grochowska E, Mroczkowski S, Jerzak L, Kasprzak M, Koim-Puchowska B, Woźniak A, Ciebiera O, Markulak D. Sex ratio of White Stork Ciconia ciconia in different environments of Poland. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2015 Sep;22(17):13194-203. doi: 10.1007/s11356-015-4250-z.
Abstract. The aim of this study was to analyze the variation in sex ratio of White Stork Ciconia ciconia chicks from differentiated Poland environments. We took under a consideration the impact of Cd and Pb for establish differences among sex ratio in chicks. We also study multiplex PCR employment for establish gender considerations. We collected blood samples via venipuncture of brachial vein of chicks during 2006-2008 breeding seasons at the Odra meadows (SW-Poland; control), which were compared with those from suburbs (SW-Poland), and from copper smelter (S-Poland; polluted) and from swamps near Baltic Sea. We found differences among sex ratio in White Stork chicks from types of environment. Male participation in sex structure is importantly higher in each type of environment excluded suburban areas. Differences in White Stork sex ratio according to the degree of environmental degradation expressed by Cd and Pb and sex-environment-metal interactions testify about the impact of these metals upon sex ratios in storks. Simultaneously, as a result of multiplex PCR, 18S ribosome gene, which served as internal control of PCR, was amplified in male and female storks. It means that it is possible to use primers designed for chicken in order to replicate this fragment of genome in White Stork. Moreover, the use of Oriental White Stork Ciconia boyciana W- chromosome specific primers makes it possible to determine the sex of C. ciconia chicks. Many factors make sex ratio of White Stork changes in subsequent breeding seasons, which depend significantly on specific environmental parameters that shape individual detailed defense mechanisms.
Graczyk R, Indykiewicz P, Olszewski A, Tobółka M. Mites Living in the Nests of the White Stork and Black Stork in Microhabitats of the Forest Environment and Agrocenoses. Animals (Basel). 2023 Oct 12;13(20):3189. doi: 10.3390/ani13203189.
Abstract. The White Stork (Ciconia ciconia) and the Black Stork (Ciconia nigra) are well-known model organisms for the study of bird migration, as well as the selectivity of nesting sites and the choice of living environment. The former breeds mainly in open areas, while the latter inhabits forest areas. The acarofauna, and in particular Oribatida, inhabiting the nests of these species, has not been thoroughly explored so far. Therefore, we analyzed the material collected from 70 White Stork nests and 34 Black Stork nests in Poland, between Poznań and Rawicz, and in Kampinos National Park. Our research has increased the faunal and ecological knowledge of the mite fauna inhabiting the nests of large migratory bird species. Oribatida constituted 5-12% of the total mites identified in the nests of White and Black Storks. Their average number was several times higher in the Black Stork nests (80.2 individuals in 500 cm3). Also, the species diversity of moss mites was greater in the Black Stork nests (47 species). In total, the nests of the two stork species were inhabited by 62 moss mite species, with only 22 recorded in both the White and the Black Storks' nests. The most numerous species included Ramusella clavipectinata, R. fasciata, Oppiella subpectinata, Acrogalumna longipluma, and Scheloribates laevigatus. In addition, we found that juvenile oribatid mites accounted for 0.6% of all the mites in the White Stork nests, with tritonymphs having the largest share, while juveniles in the Black Stork nests comprised 1.4%, of which larvae and protonymphs had the largest share. Our research shows that the nests of large migratory birds provide living space for many mite species. In addition, we noted the potential importance of White and Black Stork nests for mite dispersion and the evolution of interspecies interactions.
Bouaziz A, Loucif L, Ayachi A, Guehaz K, Bendjama E, Rolain JM. Migratory White Stork (Ciconia ciconia): A Potential Vector of the OXA-48-Producing Escherichia coli ST38 Clone in Algeria. Microb Drug Resist. 2018 May;24(4):461-468. doi: 10.1089/mdr.2017.0174.
Abstract. The emergence of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae is of great concern to public health worldwide. The aim of this study was to screen for the presence of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae in white stork (Ciconia ciconia) migratory bird stools, and to investigate their molecular support on β-lactamase production. In March 2015, 32 fecal samples of white stork were collected in the Commune of El Madher Wilaya de Batna, in eastern Algeria. Samples were subjected to selective isolation of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae. Representative colonies were screened phenotypically for carbapenemase production. Carbapenemase-producing isolates were subjected to antibiotic susceptibility testing and extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) coproduction. β-Lactamase determinants were searched for by PCR and sequencing. Three carbapenemase-producing Escherichia coli were obtained. Only one strain was positive for ESBL production. The OXA-48-type carbapenemase-encoding gene was detected in all isolates. Screening for other β-lactamase-encoding genes showed that all isolates coexpress the blaTEM gene, whereas one of them additionally harbored the blaCTX-M-15 ESBL gene. Multilocus sequence typing results showed that two strains belonged to the sequence type 38. This work demonstrated for the first time that the migratory white stork can play an important role in the dissemination of OXA-48-producing E. coli as a potential reservoir and vector.
