Black Stork
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[Photo] Black Stork (Ciconia nigra). Schwarzstorch. Date 07/2007. Author J. Patrick Fischer

The Black Stork (Ciconia nigra) is a large wading bird in the stork family Ciconiidae.

It is a widespread, but rare, species that breeds in the warmer parts of Europe, predominantly in central and eastern regions.

This is a large bird, nearly 1 m tall with a 1.8 m wingspan, weighs around 3 kilograms. It is all black except for the white belly and axillaries, and its red bill and legs. It walks slowly and steadily on the ground. Like all storks, it flies with its neck outstretched.

It breeds in large marshy wetlands with interspersed coniferous or broadlived woodlands, but inhabits also hills and mountains with sufficient network of creeks. It builds a stick nest high in trees. This is a shy and wary species, unlike the closely related White Stork.

The Black Stork, feeds mainly on fish and also amphibians and insects.

This stork has a rasping call, but rarely indulges in mutual bill-clattering when adults meet at the nest.

The Black Stork is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.

Migration
The Black Stork is a strong migrant, wintering in tropical Africa. However, the Spanish population is resident. The Black Stork is a broad-winged soaring bird, which relies on moving between thermals of hot air for sustained long distance flight. Since thermals only form over land, storks, together with large raptors, must cross the Mediterranean at the narrowest points, and many Black Storks can be seen going through the Bosphorus. They fly approximately 100 to 250 km a day with daily maxima up to 500 km.

Western Migration
About 10 percent of the western storks choose the passage Sicily - Cap Bon, Tunisia. The common route goes over Gibraltar. Many birds are flying around the Sahara next to the coast. Most birds are wintering in the wetlands of Nigeria or Mali.

Eastern Migration
The eastern birds take the route Bosphorus-Sinai-Nile. Birds from the Far East winter in the south of China.

Time of Migration
The storks migrate from the middle of August to the end of September. They come back at the middle of march.

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