Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, stout bills. They
belong to the family Ciconiidae. They are the only family in the order Ciconiiformes,
which was once much larger and held a number of families.
Storks dwell in many regions and tend to live in drier habitats than the closely related
herons, spoonbills and ibises; they also lack the powder down that those groups use to clean
off fish slime. Storks have no syrinx and are mute, giving no call; bill-clattering
is an important mode of communication at the nest. Many species are migratory. Most storks
eat frogs, fish, insects, earthworms, small birds and small mammals. There are nineteen
living species of storks in six genera. Various terms are used to refer to groups
of storks, two frequently used ones being a muster of storks and a phalanx of storks.
Storks tend to use soaring, gliding flight, which conserves energy. Soaring requires thermal
air currents. Ottomar Anschütz's famous 1884 album of photographs of storks inspired the
design of Otto Lilienthal's experimental gliders of the late nineteenth century. Storks are
heavy, with wide wingspans: the marabou stork, with a wingspan of 3.2 metres and weight up
to 8 kg, joins the Andean condor in having the widest wingspan of all living land birds.
Their nests are often very large and may be used for many years. Some nests have been
known to grow to over two metres in diameter and about three metres in depth. Storks were
once thought to be monogamous, but this is only partially true. They may change mates
after migrations, and may migrate without a mate. They tend to be attached to nests
as much as partners. Storks' size, serial monogamy, and faithfulness
to an established nesting site contribute to their prominence in mythology and culture.
Etymology The Modern English word can be traced back
to Proto-Germanic *sturkaz. Nearly every Germanic language has a descendant of this proto-language
word to indicate the stork. Related names also occur in some Slavic languages, originating
as Germanic loanwords. According to the New Shorter Oxford English
Dictionary, the Germanic root is probably related to the modern English "stark", in
reference to the stiff or rigid posture of a European species, the white stork. A non-Germanic
word linked to it may be Greek torgos. In some West Germanic languages cognate words
of a different etymology exist. They originate from *uda-faro, uda being related to water
meaning something like swamp or moist area and faro being related to fare; so *uda-faro
is something like he who walks in the swamp. In later times this name got reanalysed as
*ōdaboro, ōda "fortune, wealth" + boro "bearer" meaning he who brings wealth adding to the
myth of storks as maintainers of welfare and bringers of children.
In Estonian, "stork" is toonekurg, which is derived from toonela + kurg. It may seem not
to make sense to associate the now-common white stork with death, but at the times storks
were named, the now-rare black stork was probably the more common species.
Biogeography
The centres of stork diversity are in tropical Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, with eight and
six breeding species respectively. Just three species are present in the New World: wood
stork, maguari stork and jabiru, which is the largest flying bird of the Americas. Two
species, white and black stork, reach Europe and western temperate Asia, while one species,
Oriental stork, reaches temperate areas of eastern Asia, and one species, black-necked
stork, is found in Australasia. Systematics
Following the development of research techniques in molecular biology in the late 20th century,
in particular methods for studying DNA-DNA hybridization, a great deal of new information
has surfaced, much of it suggesting that many birds, although looking very different from
one another, are in fact more closely related than was previously thought. Accordingly,
the radical and influential Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy greatly enlarged the Ciconiiformes,
adding many more families, including most of those usually regarded as belonging to
the Sphenisciformes, Gaviiformes, Podicipediformes, Procellariiformes, Charadriiformes,, Pelecaniformes,
and the Falconiformes. The flamingo family, Phoenicopteridae, is related, and is sometimes
classed as part of the Ciconiiformes. However, morphological evidence suggests that
the traditional Ciconiiformes should be split between two lineages, rather than expanded,
although some non-traditional Ciconiiformes may be included in these two lineages.
The exact taxonomic placement of New World vultures remains unclear. Though both are
similar in appearance and have similar ecological roles, the New World and Old World vultures
evolved from different ancestors in different parts of the world and are not closely related.
Just how different the two families are is currently under debate, with some earlier
authorities suggesting that the New World vultures belong in Ciconiiformes. More recent
authorities maintain their overall position in the order Falconiformes along with the
Old World vultures or place them in their own order, Cathartiformes. The South American
Classification Committee has removed the New World vultures from Ciconiiformes and instead
placed them in Incertae sedis, but notes that a move to Falconiformes or Cathartiformes
is possible. Some official bodies have adopted the proposed
Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy almost entirely; however, a more common approach worldwide
has been to retain the traditional groupings, and modify rather than replace them in the
light of new evidence as it comes to hand. The family listing here follows this more
conservative practice. Bird taxonomy has been in a state of flux for some years, and it
is reasonable to expect that the large differences between different classification schemes will
continue gradually to resolve themselves as more evidence becomes available.
A DNA study found that the families Ardeidae, Balaenicipitidae, Scopidae and the Threskiornithidae
belong to the Pelecaniformes. This would make Ciconiidae the only group.
Storks were distinct and possibly widespread by the Oligocene. Like most families of aquatic
birds, storks seem to have arisen in the Palaeogene, maybe 40–50 million years ago. For the fossil
record of living genera, documented since the Middle Miocene at least in some cases,
see the genus articles. Though some storks are highly threatened,
no species or subspecies are known to have gone extinct in historic times. A Ciconia
bone found in a rock shelter on the island of Réunion was probably of a bird taken there
as food by early settlers; no known account mentions the presence of storks on the Mascarene
Islands. Extant storks
Genus Mycteria Milky stork, Mycteria cinerea
Yellow-billed stork, Mycteria ibis Painted stork, Mycteria leucocephala
Wood stork, Mycteria americana
Genus Anastomus Asian openbill, Anastomus oscitans
African openbill, Anastomus lamelligerus
Genus Ciconia Abdim's stork, Ciconia abdimii
Woolly-necked stork, Ciconia episcopus Storm's stork, Ciconia stormi
Maguari stork, Ciconia maguari Oriental stork, Ciconia boyciana
White stork, Ciconia ciconia Black stork, Ciconia nigra
Genus Ephippiorhynchus Black-necked stork, Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus
Saddle-billed stork, Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis
Genus Jabiru Jabiru, Jabiru mycteria
Genus Leptoptilos Lesser adjutant, Leptoptilos javanicus
Greater adjutant, Leptoptilos dubius Marabou stork, Leptoptilos crumeniferus
Fossil storks Genus Palaeoephippiorhynchus
Genus Grallavis – may be same as Prociconia Ciconiidae gen. et sp. indet.
Ciconiidae gen. et sp. indet. Genus Prociconia – may belong to modern
genus Jabiru or Ciconia Genus Pelargosteon
Ciconiidae gen. et sp. indet. – formerly Aquilavus/Cygnus bilinicus
cf. Leptoptilos gen. et sp. indet. – formerly L. siwalicensis
Ciconiidae gen. et sp. indet. The fossil genera Eociconia and Ciconiopsis
are often tentatively placed with this family. A "ciconiiform" fossil fragment from the Touro
Passo Formation found at Arroio Touro Passo might be of the living wood stork M. americana;
it is at most of Late Pleistocene age, a few 10,000s of years.
Footnotes
References
Further reading
External links Scott MacDonald, "The Stork" emblematic uses
Storks Image documentation Stork videos on the Internet Bird Collection
Whitestork Photos Image documentation Sister project links
Media related to Ciconiidae at Wikimedia Commons Data related to Ciconiidae at Wikispecies
"Stork". Encyclopædia Britannica. 1911. "Stork". Collier's New Encyclopedia. 1921.