FOR AGES 3 YEARS TO 18 YEARS
At Kidadl we pride ourselves on offering families original ideas to make the most of time spent together at home or out and about, wherever you are in the world. We strive to recommend the very best things that are suggested by our community and are things we would do ourselves - our aim is to be the trusted friend to parents.
We try our very best, but cannot guarantee perfection. We will always aim to give you accurate information at the date of publication - however, information does change, so it’s important you do your own research, double-check and make the decision that is right for your family.
Kidadl provides inspiration to entertain and educate your children. We recognise that not all activities and ideas are appropriate and suitable for all children and families or in all circumstances. Our recommended activities are based on age but these are a guide. We recommend that these ideas are used as inspiration, that ideas are undertaken with appropriate adult supervision, and that each adult uses their own discretion and knowledge of their children to consider the safety and suitability.
Kidadl cannot accept liability for the execution of these ideas, and parental supervision is advised at all times, as safety is paramount. Anyone using the information provided by Kidadl does so at their own risk and we can not accept liability if things go wrong.
White storks are beautiful, large white birds. Primarily carnivorous, these birds are usually found near freshwater sources, be it ponds, rivers, or pools. These birds travel long distances when they migrate.
This large bird has two subspecies under it; the Ciconia ciconia ciconia, which breeds mainly in Europe, Africa, and Asia predominantly, as well as Ciconia ciconia asiatica, which are slightly larger than the previous subspecies, and breed in Turkestan and spend cold winters in regions between Iran to India.
This bird is a follower of monogamous relationships, but they do not promise of staying together forever, and might hop on to another partner too!
Impressed with these facts on the white stork? We are confident that you would have just as much fun reading our fact pages regarding the Marabou stork and wood stork.
The white stork is a bird.
White storks are classified under the class of Aves, belonging to the family Ciconiidae.
There are about 500,000 and 520,000 individuals of white storks currently living on earth.
The white stork bird lives in wetlands, meadows, and building tops.
White storks do not like wandering much away from their homes, and prefer having resources available close to them. Hence, they prefer spots that are close to shallow water bodies. Food is of major importance, however, they do not stay in densely vegetated areas. This helps them stay protected from other predators. They are mainly found on wetlands, meadows, and farmlands.
This animal usually prefers to live in groups as they are social creatures and mate monogamously.
White storks can live for more than 30 years and have considerably longer lifespans in captivity.
White stork nests are about 2.5-5 ft (0.76-1.5 m) in diameter and are about 3.5-6.5 ft (1-2 m) deep. Usually, these nests are built in tall trees or on top of skyscrapers. Usually, the male stork decides the habitat where the nest will be made, and the female joins him there for breeding. Storks return to the same nests every breeding season unless the stork pairs have been changed. These breeding birds raise one batch of hatchlings every year. Usually, 1-7 eggs are laid, with an average of four eggs. The eggs do not hatch at the same time, and all begin breaking their shells after about a month. Rarely, though, the weakest of all chicks are killed by the parent birds. Young white storks flee about two months after hatching. They begin breeding at around the age of four years.
The conservation status of the white stork is stated as Least Concern.
These storks flaunt long, red stiff legs which are usually red in color. They are also known to have long necks. The most striking feature of white storks is their pointy, long red bill. Usually, male storks are larger in size as compared to their female fellows. The feathery coats adorned by these birds are mainly of a white hue, complemented with black feathers of flight. This black tint appears due to the presence of melanin. The feathers on their breasts are ruff, shaggy and long. They have big eyes with either grey or brown irises, and the skin around their eyes is black in color.
The hatched younger white storks have short, white feathers. Their beaks are of blackish hue with brown tips. They also have pink legs. In a few weeks' time, this little one acquires the flight feathers. The legs begin to slowly become grey-black in color. As a juvenile, you will notice the beaks and legs sporting dull crimson or orange shades. The bills of juvenile white storks are usually orangish-red, and the tip has a darker shade.
Some do not find this bird species cute, although some people might find them cute.
The main calls of this stork include loud bill-clattering. The storks continuously open and close their bills, which makes a knocking effect every time the stork closes its mouth. The throat pouch plays the role of a resonator, amplifying this sound. These beak-clattering effects are slow during mating, but short and loud when made as an alert call. They also hiss to call out to the other birds.
Sometimes, storks repeatedly nod their heads up and down, with their head extending completely back and touching the body, and slowly bringing it down. This gesture is usually a way of greeting other birds, but be careful, because they are also trying to threaten you with this act.
These birds are large in size. Their bodies have lengths in the range of 39-45 in (99-114 cm). They stand proud and upright and have a height of 39-50 in (99-125 cm). They possess large wingspan, having a width of 60-85 in (152-216 cm).
Their height and length is equal to four times the average height of a raccoon.
Under good weather conditions, these storks can fly at about 500 km per day!
These big birds weigh about 5-10 lb (2.27-4.5 kg).
Generally, there are no specific names for the male and female birds of the stork family.
A baby white stork is called a hatchling or a chick.
The individuals of this species mainly feed on meat. Most of its meals contain constituents that are either plucked from the ground, shallow waters, or small vegetation. Fish is the main ingredient of a stork’s diet. Other animals such as insects, small invertebrates and amphibians, reptiles, small birds, and small mammals all fall prey to this majestic white bird. Apart from animals, insects such as beetles, crickets, locusts, worms, grasshoppers, frogs, moles, and a lot more are eaten by them. Even mollusks, bird eggs, scorpions, crustaceans are gobbled by these creatures.
They prefer finding habitats where the availability of food is easy, and usually do not fly more than 3 m (5 km) away from their large stick nests for their meals. Usually, small prey is easily eaten whole, but they kill and tear down larger prey before feasting on them.
Younger storks feed on insects and earthworms, which are first eaten by the parents and regurgitated by adult storks.
Non-breeding male and female birds of this species tend to arrange food from dry grounds.
If threatened, these birds will not think twice to attack animals with their long, pointy bills.
We really do not think these animals would make good pets as they are wild animals.
This striking red color of their bills and legs is derived from the presence of carotenoids in the stork diet.
One famous Polish folktale speaks on the story of how this stork species was created. It is said that the body of the stork was made white by God, however, the Devil gave this bird black wings, thus showing that good and bad coexist in one creature.
Studies have found out that the European white stork has can become hosts to about 11 different parasitic worm species.
This ave is the national bird of many countries, including Poland, Belarus, and Lithuania.
White stork migration takes place as their habitat's season begins to change. In summers, the white storks are spread across Europe, western Asia, North Africa as well as the Iberian Peninsula.
From their European breeding grounds in summer, these storks head towards Africa for wintering, their wintering grounds expanding from Sub Saharan Africa to the Indian subcontinent. As the spring season comes, these birds shift towards the northern region of Africa. By the months of March and April, their migration routes are back towards Europe for the summer breeding season.
They adopt the eastern migration path, which crosses Turkey, the Sahara desert, and the Nile valley towards the south. Sometimes, they might also go through western migration routes which take them over the Strait of Gibraltar. In all these places, they choose shallow-water habitats where they can easily feed on insects, fish, and other small mammals.
In Roman and Greek mythology, storks are a model for devotion to parents. It is said that old storks flew to faraway islands, and as a reward for their goodness and devotion to parents, were transformed into human beings.
In early Rome, the arrival of European white storks during the season of spring informed the farmers about the right time to plant their beautiful vines.
Germans believe that having a stork nest over your house would protect the home from fires and that they contained the souls of humans. Thus, Dutch, Germans, and Polish people would build high-rise houses to encourage these birds to build their nests on their roofs, which was thought to bring in good luck.
Central and Eastern European households also believed that storks brought good fortune and harmony to those people, who owned the houses over which the stork nests were built.
Popular European folklore speaks about storks bringing babies to the houses of new parents. This legend was further popularised in the story of Hans Christian Andersen.
German legends speak about storks finding babies in marshes or caves, and they would carry these infants on their backs, or with their beaks, and drop them down the chimneys or handed over to new parents. If any couple was looking forward to extending their family, they would place sweets over their window sills.
Learn more about some other birds from our American flamingo amazing facts, or the Andean flamingo interesting facts pages.
You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring on one of our free printable white stork coloring pages.
Read The Disclaimer
At Kidadl we pride ourselves on offering families original ideas to make the most of time spent together at home or out and about, wherever you are in the world. We strive to recommend the very best things that are suggested by our community and are things we would do ourselves - our aim is to be the trusted friend to parents.
We try our very best, but cannot guarantee perfection. We will always aim to give you accurate information at the date of publication - however, information does change, so it’s important you do your own research, double-check and make the decision that is right for your family.
Kidadl provides inspiration to entertain and educate your children. We recognise that not all activities and ideas are appropriate and suitable for all children and families or in all circumstances. Our recommended activities are based on age but these are a guide. We recommend that these ideas are used as inspiration, that ideas are undertaken with appropriate adult supervision, and that each adult uses their own discretion and knowledge of their children to consider the safety and suitability.
Kidadl cannot accept liability for the execution of these ideas, and parental supervision is advised at all times, as safety is paramount. Anyone using the information provided by Kidadl does so at their own risk and we can not accept liability if things go wrong.
Kidadl is independent and to make our service free to you the reader we are supported by advertising.
We hope you love our recommendations for products and services! What we suggest is selected independently by the Kidadl team. If you purchase using the buy now button we may earn a small commission. This does not influence our choices. Please note: prices are correct and items are available at the time the article was published.
Kidadl has a number of affiliate partners that we work with including Amazon. Please note that Kidadl is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.
We also link to other websites, but are not responsible for their content.
Was this article helpful?
We’ll send you tons of inspiration to help you find a hidden gem in your local area or plan a big day out.
Check your inbox for your latest news from us. You have subscribed to:
Remember that you can always manage your preferences or unsubscribe through the link at the foot of each newsletter.