Ciconiiformes Facts for Kids

Mycteria storks, like this yellow-billed stork, have sensitive bills that allow them to hunt by touch

Storks are large birds with long legs, long necks, and strong bills. They are known as wading birds because they often walk in shallow water. All storks belong to a special animal family called Ciconiidae. This family is the only one in a larger group called Ciconiiformes.

Storks live in many parts of the world. They usually prefer drier places than their relatives, like herons and ibises. Many types of storks travel long distances, meaning they are migratory birds. Most storks eat frogs, fish, insects, earthworms, small birds, and small mammals. There are nineteen different kinds of storks alive today.

When you see a group of storks, you can call them a muster or a phalanx of storks.

About Storks
Where Do Storks Live?
What Do Storks Eat?
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About Storks

Storks are excellent at flying by soaring and gliding. This helps them save energy. To soar, they use warm air currents called thermals. Storks are heavy birds with very wide wingspans. For example, the marabou stork has a wingspan of about 3.2 meters (10.5 feet). It can weigh up to 8 kilograms (17.6 pounds)! This makes it one of the largest flying land birds.

Storks build very large nests. They often use the same nest for many years. Some nests have grown to be over 2 meters (6 feet) wide and about 3 meters (10 feet) deep.

Even though some people think storks cannot make sounds, they actually can. They have a voice box, called a syrinx, and can make some noises. However, they do not do it very often.

Where Do Storks Live?

Lesser adjutants will forage in marine habitats, unlike most storks

Storks live almost everywhere in the world, except near the North and South Poles. You will find more types of storks in warmer, tropical areas. Storks that live in places with cold winters often migrate to warmer areas to avoid the cold.

Storks like many different kinds of homes. They can be found in flooded grasslands, light forests, marshes, and wet meadows. They also like river areas and ponds. Many storks choose shallow pools, especially when lakes or rivers are drying up. This makes it easier for them to catch their food.

What Do Storks Eat?

Storks are carnivorous animals, which means they eat meat. They hunt and eat many different animals. Their diet includes reptiles, small mammals, insects, fish, amphibians, and other small creatures without backbones. If they eat any plants, it is usually by accident.

When a stork touches its prey, its bill snaps shut incredibly fast. This reaction takes only about 25 milliseconds! This is one of the fastest reactions known in any animal with a backbone.