White Stork - Behaviour

Behaviour

The White Stork is a gregarious bird; flocks of thousands of individuals have been recorded on migration routes and at wintering areas in Africa. Non-breeding birds gather in groups of 40 or 50 during the breeding season. The smaller dark-plumaged Abdim's Stork is often encountered with White Stork flocks in southern Africa. Breeding pairs of White Stork may gather in small groups to hunt, and colony nesting has been recorded in some areas. However, groups among White Stork colonies vary widely in size and the social structure is loosely defined; young breeding storks are often restricted to peripheral nests, while older storks attain higher breeding success while occupying the better quality nests toward the centres of breeding colonies. Social structure and group cohesion is maintained by altruistic behaviours such as allopreening. White Storks exhibit this behaviour exclusively at the nest site. Standing birds preen the heads of sitting birds, sometimes these are parents grooming juveniles, and sometimes juveniles preen each other. Unlike most storks, it never adopts a spread-winged posture, though it is known to droop its wings (holding them away from its body with the primary feathers pointing downwards) when its plumage is wet.

A White Stork's droppings, containing faeces and urine, are sometimes directed onto its own legs, making them appear white. The resulting evaporation provides cooling and is termed urohidrosis. Birds that have been ringed can sometimes be affected by the accumulation of droppings around the ring leading to constriction and leg trauma. The White Stork has also been noted for tool use by squeezing moss in the beak to drip water into the mouths of its chicks.