Ciconia – Old World storks

These typical storks have feathered necks and heads, straight or faintly recurved bills, and a bare patch of skin around the eye. Seven old-world and one new-world extant species are Ciconia storks.

Originally only white stork and black stork were part of this genus, but with advances in research, other species were included. It is tough to interpret the genus’s fossil history, which dates back to the middle-miocene, with few mysterious extinctions.

The head shaking crouch displayed by the males is unique in this genus. They are lofty nestlers, except for the Maguari stork, which also nests on the ground in treeless marshes.