White Storks are large wading Birds. They are huge birds, 100–125 cm tall, with 155–200 cm wingspan and a weight of 2.3–4.5 kg. They are completely white except for the black wing flight feathers, and their red bills and legs, which are black on juveniles. They walk slowly and steadily on the ground. Body and tail white, wings black and the bill and legs are red with bill pointed at the tip.
White Stocks breed in Europe, nw. Africa and rarely in South Africa. Non-breeding birds are widespread throughout the country except in dryer regions. Birds are Palaearctic migrants which occur from November to March. Numbers are declining mainly due to collisions with powerlines, hunting, excessive use of pesticides and other pest control chemicals.
Birds are gregarious in loose flocks of a few birds to several hundred birds. Larger groups concentrate at good food supplies such as locust plagues. The birds forage by walking slowly across veld or wading in shallow grassy marshlands. Other food supply consists of arthropods, small reptiles, mammals, young of ground-nesting birds, frogs, tadpoles and molluscs.
White Stocks soar well, spiralling high on thermals, especially when flocks gather in the summer before northward migration
Common local names
Sesotho: Mokotatsie or Mokorwane
isiXhosa: Ingwamza or Unowanga
isiZulu: uNowanga or uNogolantethe