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__NOTOC__ ''Ciconia'' ( ; ) is a genus of birds in the
stork Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, stout bills. They belong to the family called Ciconiidae, and make up the order Ciconiiformes . Ciconiiformes previously included a number of other families, such as herons an ...
family. Six of the seven living species occur in the
Old World The "Old World" is a term for Afro-Eurasia that originated in Europe , after Europeans became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia, which were previously thought of by the ...
, but the maguari stork has a South American range. In addition, fossils suggest that ''Ciconia'' storks were somewhat more common in the tropical Americas in prehistoric times. The genus was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760 with the white stork (''Ciconia ciconia'') as the type species. The genus name is the Latin word for "stork", and was originally recorded in the works of
Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 – 27 November 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). The rhetorician Quintilian regarded his ' ...
and Ovid. The
Abdim's stork Abdim's stork (''Ciconia abdimii''), also known as the white-bellied stork, is a stork belonging to the family Ciconiidae. It is the smallest species of stork, feeds mostly on insects, and is found widely in open habitats in Sub-Saharan Africa an ...
is the smallest of the family, but other species in the genus are generally medium-sized storks, with long legs and a long thick bill. The members of this genus are more variable in plumage than other stork genera, but all species are black (at least to the wings) and white (at least underparts or neck). Juveniles are a duller, browner version of the adult. Depending on species, breeding can be in solitary pairs or colonies. Pairs usually stay together for life. They typically build large stick nests in trees, although the Abdim's stork sometimes will nest on cliffs, the maguari stork will nest on the ground and at least three species will construct their nests on human habitations. One of these, the white stork, is probably the best known of all storks, with a wealth of legend and folklore associated with this familiar summer visitor to Europe. These storks feed on frogs, insects, fish, crustaceans, small birds,
lizard Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia alt ...
s and rodents. They fly with the neck outstretched, like most other storks, but unlike
heron The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychus ...
s which retract their neck in flight. The migratory species like the white stork and the black stork soar on broad wings and rely on thermals of hot air for sustained long distance flight. Since thermals only form over land, these storks, like large raptors, must cross the Mediterranean at the narrowest points, and many of these birds can be seen going through the
Straits of Gibraltar The Strait of Gibraltar ( ar, مضيق جبل طارق, Maḍīq Jabal Ṭāriq; es, Estrecho de Gibraltar, Archaic: Pillars of Hercules), also known as the Straits of Gibraltar, is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Medit ...
and the
Bosphorus The Bosporus Strait (; grc, Βόσπορος ; tr, İstanbul Boğazı 'Istanbul strait', colloquially ''Boğaz'') or Bosphorus Strait is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul in northwestern Tu ...
on migration.


Species


Extant species

The genus contains seven extant species:


Fossils

The fossil record of the genus is extensive, indicating that ''Ciconia'' storks were once more widespread than they are today. Although the known material tends to suggest that the genus evolved around the Atlantic, possibly in western Europe or Africa, the comparative lack of fossil sites in Asia makes this assumption not well-founded presently. All that can be said is that by the Early Pliocene, ''Ciconia'' was widespread at least all over the
Northern Hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the Equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined as being in the same celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the solar system as Earth's Nort ...
. Fossil members of the genus include: *''
Ciconia louisebolesae '' Ciconia louisebolesae '' is an extinct species of stork from the Early Miocene of Australia. It was described by Walter Boles from fossil material found in a cave deposit at the Bitesantennary Site of Riversleigh, in the Boodjamulla Nationa ...
'' (Early Miocene of Riversleigh, Australia) *?'' Ciconia minor'' (Early Miocene of Rusinga Island, Kenya) *?''
Ciconia sarmatica __NOTOC__ ''Ciconia'' ( ; ) is a genus of birds in the stork family. Six of the seven living species occur in the Old World, but the maguari stork has a South American range. In addition, fossils suggest that ''Ciconia'' storks were somewhat mo ...
'' (Late Miocene of Credinţa, Romania) *?''
Ciconia gaudryi __NOTOC__ ''Ciconia'' ( ; ) is a genus of birds in the stork family. Six of the seven living species occur in the Old World, but the maguari stork has a South American range. In addition, fossils suggest that ''Ciconia'' storks were somewhat mor ...
'' (Late Miocene/Early Pliocene of Pikermi, Greece) *''Ciconia'' sp. 1 (Late Miocene/Early Pliocene of Lee Creek Mine, the United States) *''Ciconia'' sp. 2 (Late Miocene/Early Pliocene of Lee Creek Mine, the United States) *?''
Ciconia kahli __NOTOC__ ''Ciconia'' ( ; ) is a genus of birds in the stork family. Six of the seven living species occur in the Old World, but the maguari stork has a South American range. In addition, fossils suggest that ''Ciconia'' storks were somewhat mor ...
'' (Early Pliocene of South Africa) *''
Ciconia lucida __NOTOC__ ''Ciconia'' ( ; ) is a genus of birds in the stork family. Six of the seven living species occur in the Old World, but the maguari stork has a South American range. In addition, fossils suggest that ''Ciconia'' storks were somewhat mor ...
'' (Mongolian stork), (Middle Pliocene of Mongolia) *'' Ciconia maltha'' (asphalt stork or La Brea stork), (Late Pliocene – Late Pleistocene of the western and southern United States, Cuba and Bolivia) *''
Ciconia stehlini __NOTOC__ ''Ciconia'' ( ; ) is a genus of birds in the stork family. Six of the seven living species occur in the Old World, but the maguari stork has a South American range. In addition, fossils suggest that ''Ciconia'' storks were somewhat mor ...
'' (Late Pliocene – Early Pleistocene of Hungary) – may belong to extant species *''
Ciconia nana '' Ciconia nana '' is an extinct species of stork from the Pliocene of Australia. It was originally scientific description, described in 1888 by De Vis as ''Xenorhynchus nanus'', based on fossil material from the Condamine River, near Chinchilla, ...
'' (Australian stork) – (Early to Middle Pliocene, Late Pleistocene of Australia) – formerly ''Xenorhynchus'' *''Ciconia'' sp. (Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene of Las Breas de San Felipe, Cuba) A
distal Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position pro ...
radius in
Late Pleistocene The Late Pleistocene is an unofficial Age (geology), age in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, also known as Upper Pleistocene from a Stratigraphy, stratigraphic perspective. It is intended to be the fourth division of ...
deposits of San Josecito Cavern (Mexico) may belong in this genus or in '' Mycteria''; it is smaller than that of any known American stork, ''Ciconia'' or otherwise. The proposed fossil genus '' Prociconia'' from Brazil, also of Late Pleistocene age, may be a
junior synonym The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. * In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linna ...
of either this genus or ''
Jabiru The jabiru ( or ; ''Jabiru mycteria'') is a large stork found in the Americas from Mexico to Argentina, except west of the Andes. It sometimes wanders into the United States, usually in Texas, but has been reported as far north as Mississippi. ...
''. A distal
tarsometatarsus The tarsometatarsus is a bone that is only found in the lower leg of birds and some non-avian dinosaurs. It is formed from the fusion of several bones found in other types of animals, and homologous to the mammalian tarsus (ankle bones) and meta ...
found in a
rock shelter A rock shelter (also rockhouse, crepuscular cave, bluff shelter, or abri) is a shallow cave-like opening at the base of a bluff or cliff. In contrast to solutional caves (karst), which are often many miles long, rock shelters are almost alway ...
on
Réunion Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...
was probably of a bird taken there as food by early settlers; no known account mentions the presence of storks on the Mascarenes, and while this
subfossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved in ...
was initially believed to be from a stork, it is today assigned to the Réunion ibis (''Threskiornis solitarius'') which is quite similar to storks osteologically and was not yet described when the bone was discovered (Cowles, 1994).


References


Further reading

* Barlow, Clive (1997): ''A field guide to birds of the Gambia and Senegal''.
Pica Press A & C Black is a British book publishing company, owned since 2002 by Bloomsbury Publishing. The company is noted for publishing '' Who's Who'' since 1849. It also published popular travel guides and novels. History The firm was founded in 1 ...
, Nr. Robertsbridge (East Sussex). * Cowles, Graham S. (1994): A new genus, three new species and two new records of extinct Holocene birds from Réunion Island, Indian Ocean. ''Geobios'' 27(1): 87–93. * Grimmett, Richard; Inskipp, Carol, Inskipp, Tim & Byers, Clive (1999): ''Birds of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives''. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.. * Hilty, Steven L. (2003): ''Birds of Venezuela''. Christopher Helm, London.


External links

* ARKive
images and movies of ''Ciconia boyciana''

Ciconia videos
on Internet Bird Collection:
Ecological education through live white storks' nest webcam observation
{{Authority control Bird genera