The White Stork is a large wading bird that breeds in Europe south of Estonia, northwest Africa and the southwest of Asia. These Storks are strong migrants and winter in tropical Africa all the way to South Africa and India.
White Storks use thermals of hot air to travel large distances as they migrate between Europe and Africa.
According to mythology, storks are responsible for bringing babies to new parents. It is the national bird of Poland and Lithuania and the symbol of the city of The Hague in the Netherlands.
The White Stork is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List and was last assessed in 2015 by BirdLife International. This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population trend appears to be increasing, and hence the species does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size is very large, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.
If you think our Birdorable birds are cute as adults, what about when they are babies? Here are some baby photos (shared via Flickr) of the White Stork. Baby White Storks are hatched in huge nests across parts of Europe and western parts of Asia. The nests... Read more »
Our highlighted t-shirts this week feature our Birdorable White Stork in It's a Boy and It's a Girl designs, shown here on our maternity tees. Both designs are available on the chest and belly area and on white, pink or black shirts. Click here... Read more »
