#ciconiiformes

[herpsandbirds]

African Openbill Stork (Anastomus lamelligerus), EAT A TASTY SNAIL!!!, family Ciconiidae, order Ciconiiformes, Chobe River, Botswana

photographs by Suzan Johnston

[snototter]

A pair of painted storks (Mycteria leucocephala) tend to their chicks in Keoladeo National Park, India

by Sandra Jenkins

[weirdchristmas]

Don't worry, the grim reaper flamingo is just here to prune the overgrown timeline of your poor life choices. Happy New Year!

[best-bird-tournament]

Stork (Ciconiiformes) order / Ciconiidae family - RUNOFF

Which is the best bird?

Asian woolly-necked stork

African openbill

Saddle-billed stork

Voting ended onJan 23

[have-you-seen-this-animal]

I think one animal thats pretty rare to spot even outside zoos is a black stork, randomly saw one on vacation and basically lost my mind how it just strolled through a little stream so casually...

Have you seen the black stork (Ciconia nigra)?

I have now

Yes, in photos/videos

Yes, irl

I'm not sure

Voting ended onDec 8, 2025

[bestanimal]

Round 3 - Reptilia - Ciconiiformes

(Sources - 1, 2, 3, 4)

Our next order are the Ciconiiformes, which contain one family, Ciconiidae, commonly called “storks”.

Storks are superficially similar to the unrelated cranes and herons, with a long neck, bill, and legs, but they are more heavy-set. They have large bills, with sizes and shapes that vary between genera, adapted to their different diets. Storks usually hunt by wading in shallow water, but some will also stalk through grasslands. Most storks eat frogs, fish, insects, earthworms, small birds, and small mammals. Some are also scavengers of carrion. Storks live all over the world, except for the North and South Pole. They live in a variety of habitats, and can survive in drier environments than other waterbirds, but they are most diverse and common in the tropics. Many stork species are migratory, and soar on thermals to conserve energy.

Storks range from being solitary breeders through loose breeding associations, to fully colonial, nesting in colonies of a few pairs to thousands of pairs. Some colonies may include other species of storks, cormorants, herons, egrets, ibises, and/or pelicans. Storks use trees in a variety of habitats to breed including forests, cities, farmlands, and large wetlands. Their nests are often very large and may be used for many years, with the pair returning and building onto it each year. Most storks are generally monogamous, but some species exhibit regular extra-pair breeding. Both parents take care of the young.

Like most families of aquatic birds, storks seem to have arisen in the Palaeogene, around 40–50 million years ago, with living genera dating back to the Middle Miocene (about 15 mya).

Do you have a favorite in Ciconiiformes?

One or more of my favorite animals is in Ciconiiformes

I love at least one or more of these animals

I like at least one or more of these animals

I am neutral about all of these animals

I dislike all of these animals

Voting ended onMay 6, 2025

Propaganda under the cut:

The characteristic feeding method of storks involves standing or walking in shallow water and holding the bill submerged in the water. When contact is made with prey the bill reflexively snaps shut in 25 milliseconds, one of the fastest reactions known in any vertebrate. The stork is also able to sense whether its bill is making contact with prey or an inanimate object within those 25 milliseconds, and it is still not known how they do this.

Openbills (genus Anastomus) are specially adapted to feed on freshwater molluscs, particularly apple snails. They feed in small groups, and sometimes African Openbills (Anastomus lamelligerus) (image 4) ride on the backs of hippos while foraging. Having caught a snail it will return to land or at least to the shallows to eat it. The fine tip of the bill of the openbills is used to open the snail, and its saliva has a narcotic effect, which causes the snail to relax and simplifies the process of extraction.

Various terms are used to refer to groups of storks, two frequently used ones being a “muster” of storks and a “phalanx” of storks.

The Marabou Stork (Leptoptilos crumenifer) (image 2) is the largest stork, at a height of 152 cm (5 ft) tall and weight up to 8 kg (18 lb). With a wingspan of 3.2 m (10 ft 6 in), it joins the Andean Condor (Vultur gryphus) in having the widest wingspan of all living land birds.

Although it is sometimes reported that storks lack syrinxes and are mute, they do have syrinxes, and are capable of making some sounds, although they do not do so often. However, their syrinxes are "variably degenerate", and the syringeal membranes of some species are found between tracheal rings or cartilage, an unusual arrangement shared with the ovenbirds (family Furnariidae). Instead, storks mainly communicate by clattering their bills.

The two species in the genus Ephippiorhynchus are unique among storks for having colored sexual dimorphism. Saddle-billed Stork (Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis) (image 1) males have brown eyes and small yellow wattles, while the females have yellow eyes and no wattles. Black-necked Stork (Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus) males also have brown eyes while the females have yellow eyes.

Many ancient mythologies feature stories and legends involving storks. In Ancient Egypt, Saddle-billed Storks were seen as being amongst the most powerful animals and were used to represent the ba, the Ancient Egyptian conception of the soul, during the Old Kingdom.

Greek and Roman mythology portrays storks as models of parental devotion. Storks were thought to care for their aged parents, feeding them and even transporting them, and children's books depicted them as a model of filial values. The 3rd century Roman writer Aelian, noted in his De natura animalium that aged storks flew away to oceanic islands where they were transformed into humans as a reward for their loyalty towards their parents. The Greeks held that killing a stork could be punished with death.

According to European folklore, the White Stork (Ciconia ciconia) (see gif above) is responsible for bringing babies to new parents. German folklore held that storks found babies in caves or marshes and brought them to households in a basket on their backs or held in their beaks. The babies would then be given to the mother or dropped down the chimney. Households would notify when they wanted children by placing sweets for the stork on the windowsill. Subsequently, the folklore has spread around the world to the Philippines and countries in South America. In Slavic mythology and pagan religion, storks were thought to carry unborn souls from Vyraj to Earth in spring and summer. This belief still persists in the modern folk culture of many Slavic countries, in the simplified child story that "storks bring children into the world".

[saritawolf]

Painted Stork (Mycteria leucocephala) - (c) SaritaWolf - please do not repost

[birding-with-tortoise]

Painted Stork (Mycteria leucocephala)

Sighted at Pulicat lake, Tamil Nadu, India