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Black Stork (Ciconia nigra) — photo 1 of 4
© מינוזיג - MinoZig CC BY-SA 4.0

Storks

Black Stork

Ciconia nigra

Summer visitor

How to recognize it

  • Large, slimmer than a White Stork

  • Mainly black plumage, white underparts

  • Long red legs and a long straight red bill

  • In flight: neck outstretched, legs trailing

About the species

The Black Stork keeps to itself and moves with a cautious, reserved air. In flight, its stretched neck and long legs give it a very unmistakable silhouette.

It is a reluctant voice. Most often you hear it in flight as a sharp “chee-leee” or “chi-lin”; at the nest it may sound quiet, and during the breeding season it can also hiss.

It prefers quiet old woods near water — rivers, forest lakes, and marshes. It feeds mainly on fish and other small aquatic animals, and in winter also takes rodents, large insects, and whatever else is available.

Where to find

  • In quiet old city parks and riverside woods with tall oaks or pines, Black Stork can show up at the water’s edge — standing still in shallow water and stalking fish.

  • Along canal banks, pond margins, and calm backwaters with reeds, especially early in the morning, when it wades slowly through the fringe.

  • Near marshy low spots, stream edges, and damp woodland clearings, look up for a long, straight flight over the treetops — neck stretched forward, legs trailing.

  • Where tall mature trees rise above the noise, scan the crowns for a bulky stick nest on a fork or against a ledge-like branch.

You might also see

Sources