# White stork (*Ciconia ciconia*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/white-stork  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The white stork (Ciconia ciconia), also called the European white stork, is a bird in the family Ciconiidae and the order Ciconiiformes. It is a medium-sized, migratory bird with an adult body mass of 3.446 kg and a wingspan of 1.91 m, living in grassland and foraging on the ground. Its diet category is omnivore and its trophic level is carnivore, with main foods including amphibia, common frog, earthworm, edible frog, grasshopper, gryllidae, insect, locust, mole, reptile, soricidae and vole. It lays a clutch of 4 eggs once per year, incubated for 33.5 days, and is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, not a threatened category.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 3.33 kg – 3.54 kg |
| Length | 1 m – 1.15 m |
| Wingspan | 1.91 m |
| Lifespan | 39 years |
| Diet | Omnivore |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 48 years |
| Main food | amphibia, common frog, earthworm, edible frog, grasshopper, gryllidae and 6 more |
| Habitat | grassland |
| Egg incubation | 33.5 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 4 |
| Age at maturity | 3.5 years – 4 years |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1 |
| Reproduction | Eggs |
| Lifestyle | Terrestrial |
| Migration | Migratory |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Ciconiiformes
- family: Ciconiidae
- genus: Ciconia
- species: *Ciconia ciconia* (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms: *Ardea ciconia*, *Ciconia alba*, *Ciconia linnéi*

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is the white stork?

The white stork is a bird of the family Ciconiidae in the order Ciconiiformes. It is medium-sized by adult body mass.

### How heavy is a white stork?

An adult White stork weighs 3.446 kg, with reported values from 3.325 to 3.538 kg. Its wingspan is 1.91 m.

### What does the white stork eat?

Its main foods are amphibia, common frog, earthworm, edible frog, grasshopper, gryllidae, insect, locust, mole, reptile, soricidae and vole. Its diet category is omnivore.

### Is the white stork endangered?

No. The white stork is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.

### How long does a white stork live?

The white stork has a lifespan of 39 years, with values up to 48 years reported.

### How many eggs does a white stork lay?

The white stork lays 4 eggs per clutch and has 1 clutch per year. The eggs are incubated for 33.5 days.

### When does a white stork reach maturity?

The white stork reaches sexual maturity at 3.7 years, with reported values from 3.5 to 4.0 years.

### Who named the white stork?

The white stork was named Ciconia ciconia by (Linnaeus, 1758).

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7), CC BY 4.0, v7. Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

Cite as: White stork (Ciconia ciconia). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/white-stork