The white stork (Ciconia ciconia)
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One of the largest birds in the stork family is the white stork which is characterized by a white plumage and black wings. The European White Stork is a member of the Stork family.
The white stork bird is a large one measuring around 100 to 120 cm from the tip of its beak to its tail and has a wingspan of 190 to 220 cm. It is a light bird weighing only around 2 to 4.5kgs. Males can be distinguished from their female counterparts on the basis of their larger size. These storks are long necked creatures with long hind legs and a straight and pointed beak. Both the legs and the beak are red in color. It has a white plumage with feathers black and shiny.
Being a long-distant bird, the white stork winters in Europe migrate to Africa to even as far as the Indian subcontinent while flying southwards from their breeding grounds in Europe. This happens in the month of August and September.
They usually feed on insects such as grasshoppers, beetles, crickets and locusts; reptiles, earthworms, amphibians especially frogs; mammals such as moles, shrews, voles. They also eat bird eggs and their young ones, fishes, crustaceans, molluscs, and scorpions, etc.