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Stork Facts & Worksheets

Stork is the common name for any of the large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with slender stout bills.

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A stork, of the family Ciconiidae of the order Ciconiiformes, is the common name for any of the large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with slender stout bills, housing 19 extant species in six genera. Regardless of its significant ecological values and key roles in food chains, the number of stork species has declined caused by anthropogenic factors, especially habitat destruction.

See the fact file below for more information on the Stork or alternatively, you can download our 29-page Stork worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

DESCRIPTION

  • Storks are known for their long legs, necks, and bills, which show some resemblance to herons, although the latter comprise the family Ardeidae. Just like herons, storks have a straight bill; however, there are four stork species with curved bills. 
  • How storks fly distinguishes themselves from herons; they fly mostly with their necks outstretched. Herons, on the other hand, fly with their necks retracted. Both birds, however, fly with their legs trailing.  
  • Another thing that sets apart herons and storks is the former’s much slighter build.
  • Unlike herons, storks do not have powder down. This is a specialized type of down feathers which are unusually fine and give off dust between the frons.
  • Storks are covered with white, black, and gray feathers. Their bills may have mixes of red, black, and yellow. Some species do not have feathers on the neck and head. 
  • Storks lack syrinx and are mute, producing no bird call. Instead, they communicate through bill-clattering. 
  • They are medium to large wading birds, standing about 75 to 152 cm and weighing 1.3 to 9 kg. The marabou stork (Leptoptilos crumeniferus) is a large stork, assumed to stand 152 cm and weigh 9 kg, with a wingspan of about 3.2 m. It was also known to share some distinction of having the largest wingspan of any landbird with the Andean condor. Compared to the majority of the stork species, the three Leptoptilos storks fly with their necks retracted.
  • These birds fly on all continents except Antarctica; they are found in most of the warmer regions of the planet. Storks prefer tropical climates, and the only species living in North America is the wood stork, which has a small and endangered population in southern Florida.
  • They inhabit mainly lowland habitats and a number of species chose to wander in wetlands, although some, such as the marabou, thrive in drier regions. The black storks, on the other hand, live part of the year in the forests of Eastern Europe and Asia.
  • Most stork species are migratory birds.

BEHAVIOR

  • Storks live a carnivorous diet; they prey on frogs, fish, insects, earthworms, small birds, mammals, and even young crocodiles. The wood stork, which hunts mostly through its open, sensitive bill, has been documented as reacting in 25 milliseconds – the fastest recorded response rate of any vertebrate.
  • In order to conserve energy, storks practice soaring, which requires thermal air currents, and gliding flight.
  • They may also be solitary breeders, loosely or highly colonial. Colonial breeding sites house thousands of nests, which can be found in trees, often at great heights. These nests are usually very large and may be used for a number of years. Some have been discovered to grow over two meters in diameter and about three meters in depth. 
  • Their eggs are oval and white. Storks lay an average number of five eggs, and they incubate them for about 25 to 38 days, depending on the species.
  • Some storks are solitary breeders, such as the jabiru stork, which form monogamous pairs. Storks were once assumed to be monogamous; however, this only holds true to some species and to a limited extent. They may change mates as they migrate and move to another location without their pair.
  • Storks become sexually mature between three to five years old.

SYSTEMATICS

  • There are 19 species of stork in six genera. 
  • Fossils of storks that have been discovered in France appear to be from the Upper Eocene period about 40 million years ago. 
  • Although storks were known to be taxonomically related to other long-legged wading birds, like the herons, some researchers consider the New World vultures to be their closest relatives.
  • Despite having some storks classified as highly threatened, no species or subspecies are identified to have reached extinction in ancient times. A Ciconia bone found in a rock shelter on Réunion was most likely of a bird consumed by early human settlers; no known record discloses the existence of storks on the Mascarenes.
  • The fossil genus Ciconiopsis is typically conditionally assigned to this family. 

STORKS AND HUMANS

  • Storks have sometimes been recognized in great affection by humans and have played a significant role in human culture for hundreds of years. Most of the myths and emblems are about the white stork.
  • In Ancient Egypt, the stork was correlated with the human ba; they displayed the same phonetic value. The ba was the distinct individual character of each human being: a stork with a human head was thought to be the ba – soul, which precisely migrates home every night, like the stork, to reattach to the body during the Afterlife. 
  • The Hebrew term for stork was similar to “devotee; (literary) devout woman, God-fearing woman, religiously observant woman; righteous, pious, kind – woman,” and the protection of these birds for their young, in their highly noticeable nests, made storks a widespread symbol of parental care.
  • In Vietnam, these birds represent the hardships of poor Vietnamese farmers and the diligence of Vietnamese women.
  • The phrase “birds of feather flock together” is affixed to Aesop’s fable of the farmer and the stork in his net caught among the cranes that were stealing grains from his field. The stork pleaded desperately to be spared, telling the farmer he was not a crane.
  • In Greek mythology, Hera’s enemy, Gerana, was an Æthiope who was turned into a long-necked stork, a punishment Hera also imposed on Antigone, daughter of Laomedon of Troy. The human-turned-stork Gerana tried to kidnap her child, Mopsus. According to Greeks, this story has been the mythic theme of the war between the pygmies and the storks.
  • In popular Western culture, there is a common photograph of a white stork with an infant wrapped in cloths held in its beak; the stork, rather than running away with the child Mopsus, was depicted as delivering the baby, an image of childbirth. During the Victorian era, the details of human reproduction was hard to discuss and elaborate, especially in reply to a child’s question of “where did I come from?”; “the stork brought you to us” was the plan used to evade discussions about reproduction and sex. This approach originated from the once popular notion that storks were the omens of happiness and prosperity. When going back to the northern lands in spring, some storks mounted their nests on top of chimneys, bringing a blessing to that family – a newborn baby.
  • For the Chinese, the stork abducted a worthy man, like the flute-player Lan Ts’ai Ho, and then brought him to a blissful life.
  • In Bulgarian folklore, the stork is an emblem of the coming spring.

Stork Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle that includes everything you need to know about the Stork across 29 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about the Stork which is the common name for any of the large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with slender stout bills.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Stork Facts
  • Creature Corner
  • A Stork Story
  • Stork or Not
  • Other Long-Legged Birds
  • Stork Quiz
  • More Stork Stuff
  • Bring Home the Baby
  • Stork Species
  • Crane vs Stork
  • Storks and Babies

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Link will appear as Stork Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, February 17, 2022

Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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