Stork

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Storks
Painted Stork
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Ciconiiformes Family: Ciconiidae Gray, 1840

Storks are a family of birds (Ciconiidae). They usually live near shallow bodies of water where they wade through the water, and catch small animals, like frogs, crabs, or small fish. Many species of stork are migratory, they spend the summer and the winter in different places. There are 19 different species of stork, in 6 genera.

Probably the best known stork is the White Stork. It is known to build large nests in high places, like on chimneys. Stork nests are often very large. They may be used for many years. Beforehand, people believed storks were monogamous, that they only had one partner in life. More recent research has shown though, that they may change partners. They are attached to a nest almost as much as to a partner.

The Marabou Stork, which lives in Africa, has a wingspan of up to 320 cm. This makes it the largest bird still alive, together with the Andean Condor.

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Black stork (C. nigra)

Marabou stork (Leptoptilos crumeniferus)

Glossy Ibis