White Stork

White stork by the lake at Wingham Wildlife Park

White Stork Natural History

Size

Can grow between 100-125 cm tall, with a wingspan of 155-200 cm, and a weight of 2.3-4.5 kg.

Habitat and Distribution

The European sub-species is distributed across much of Europe, the middle east and west-central Asia.

Age

Wild birds can live and reproduce successfully past 30 years.

Diet

Consists mainly of frogs and large insects, but also young birds, lizards and rodents.

Groups and Breeding

White Storks breed in open farmland areas with access to marshy wetlands, building a stick nest in trees, on buildings. They lay between 3-5 eggs, with incubation lasting 33-34 days, once hatched the young birds stay in the nest for approximately 8-9 weeks.

Threats

Include drainage of wetlands and other agricultural intensification, collisions with overhead power lines, use of persistent pesticides to combat locusts in Africa, and hunting on passage.

Interesting Facts

There are two subspecies:-
Ciconia ciconia ciconia Linnaeus, 1758. (Europe,northwest Africa, westernmost Asia; wintering in Africa.)
Ciconia ciconia asiatica Severtsov, 1873. (West-central Asia; wintering in India)

The White Stork During Your Day Out in Kent

Two of our White Storks here at the park live on our large lake, situated in front of the pumas, jaguars and lions. Their names are Derek and Cassandra and they have access to the majority of this lake and its banks as well as its islands.

The more you know…

Want to know more about this animal? Check out our keeper blogs about them here.

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