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White Storks are tall birds with a long neck and an all-white plumage, except the flight feathers and wing coverts, which are black. Their long legs and pointy bill are red.

The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org .

The global distribution of the White Stork is available HERE .

There are two races of White Storks, both of which are strongly migratory. Part of the population of White Storks, nominate race "ciconia", breed in northern Africa (Atlas Mountains and north-west African coastal areas) and in south-western Iberia. Others breed from the South shore of the Caspian Sea westward, all the way through Turkey and into central and eastern Europe. Race "ciconia" spends the northern winters in sub-Saharan Africa and in East and South Africa. Others winter in northern Arabia. Race "asiatica" breeds in Kazachstan and spends the northern winters in Pakistan and north-western India.

In Arabia White Storks, race "ciconia", spend the winters along the North coast of the peninsula, from the UAE, via the northern tip, all along the North coast of Oman and several hundred km down the East coast of Oman.

Outside the breeding season, White Storks can be found in wetlands (ideally swamps, marshes, riverine flood plains) or other secure feeding grounds (increasingly rubbish tips).

Race "ciconia"