The White Stork (Ciconia ciconia) is a very large, long-legged bird, standing 100–115 cm tall with an impressive wingspan of roughly 155–215 cm. Its plumage is almost entirely pure white, but the flight feathers are black, giving the folded wings a black appearance and creating a bold black-and-white pattern in the air; the long, pointed bill and legs are bright red. Unlike herons, which fly with the neck retracted, the White Stork holds its neck and legs straight and outstretched in flight. The sexes look alike, while young birds have a darker, brownish bill. The species is essentially voiceless — instead of calling, it communicates, especially at the nest, by loudly clattering its bill in a rhythmic, well-audible clacking.
White Storks once bred in southern Sweden but vanished as a breeding species during the first half of the 20th century, as wetland drainage and changing agriculture made the landscape unsuitable. A long-running reintroduction project has restored the species to the Skåne lowlands, with the population growing slowly, while wild storks from the continent are seen annually on migration and occasionally elsewhere in the country. It builds a huge, sturdy nest of branches, often on rooftops, chimneys, poles or purpose-built platforms, reused and added to year after year; the female lays 3–5 eggs, incubated by both parents for just over a month, with the young fed in the nest for several weeks before fledging. An omnivore, the White Stork forages methodically over damp, open ground for frogs, insects, earthworms, small rodents, lizards, snakes and fish fry. It is a summer visitor and long-distance migrant that winters in Africa, and is classified as globally Least Concern.
Read about this species in Swedish →