Storks | |
---|---|
Painted stork | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | |
Phylum: | |
Class: | |
Order: | |
Family: | Ciconiidae Gray, 1840 |
Storks are a family of birds (Ciconiidae). They usually live near shallow bodies of water where they wade through the water, and catch small animals, like frogs, crabs, or small fish. Many species of stork are migratory, they spend the summer and the winter in different places. There are 19 different species of stork, in six genera. The marabou stork is the largest species of stork. The Abdim's stork is the smallest species of stork
Probably the best known stork is the white stork. It is known to build large nests in high places. Stork nests are often very large. They may be used for many years. Beforehand, people believed storks were monogamous, that they only had one partner in life. More recent research has shown that they may change partners. They are attached to a nest almost as much as to a partner.