White stork migration Ciconia ciconia
▶ Follow the white stork across the big globe
Press ▶ to play the year. Line: a simplified typical route, joining the main cluster of GBIF records in each month (adjusted for observer effort).
| Scientific name | Ciconia ciconia |
|---|---|
| Wingspan | 191 cm |
| IUCN status | Least concern |
| Records mapped | 1,031,016 (GBIF) |
| GPS / geolocator tracks | 4 birds (Movebank) |
Facts from Wikidata Q25352 (CC0).
When does the white stork arrive in the UK?
Only 3,552 UK records in the GBIF data used here, too few to say when it arrives.
Migration in the data
1,031,016 GBIF records (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 licences only) are mapped here, in 1.41° grid cells, month by month.
In Europe and Africa, the centre of the records (adjusted for observer effort) is furthest north in July (about 46°N) and furthest south in December (about 23°N).
Month by month: centre of records in Europe and Africa
| Month | Centre (latitude) | South of the Equator |
|---|---|---|
| January | 24°N | 24% |
| February | 27°N | 20% |
| March | 38°N | 7% |
| April | 43°N | 3% |
| May | 44°N | 1% |
| June | 45°N | 1% |
| July | 46°N | 1% |
| August | 45°N | 1% |
| September | 39°N | 3% |
| October | 36°N | 4% |
| November | 31°N | 13% |
| December | 23°N | 24% |
Tracked birds
- “Paqe”: 13 Jul 2017 – 13 Jul 2018, between 45°N and 6°S. Dataset: Kays R, Davidson SC, Berger M, Bohrer G, Fiedler W, Flack A, Hirt J, Hahn C, Gauggel D, Russell B, et al. 2021. The Movebank system for studying global animal movement and demography. Methods Ecol Evol. doi:10.1111/2041-210X.13767 https://doi.org/10.5441/001/1.s367rd3k (CC0 1.0 Universal)
- “Drin”: 2 Jul 2018 – 1 Feb 2019, between 43°N and 9°S. Dataset: Kays R, Davidson SC, Berger M, Bohrer G, Fiedler W, Flack A, Hirt J, Hahn C, Gauggel D, Russell B, et al. 2021. The Movebank system for studying global animal movement and demography. Methods Ecol Evol. doi:10.1111/2041-210X.13767 https://doi.org/10.5441/001/1.s367rd3k (CC0 1.0 Universal)
- “Ana”: 5 Jul 2017 – 5 Jul 2018, between 43°N and 6°S. Dataset: Kays R, Davidson SC, Berger M, Bohrer G, Fiedler W, Flack A, Hirt J, Hahn C, Gauggel D, Russell B, et al. 2021. The Movebank system for studying global animal movement and demography. Methods Ecol Evol. doi:10.1111/2041-210X.13767 https://doi.org/10.5441/001/1.s367rd3k (CC0 1.0 Universal)
- “Lean”: 2 Jul 2018 – 4 Feb 2019, between 43°N and 6°S. Dataset: Kays R, Davidson SC, Berger M, Bohrer G, Fiedler W, Flack A, Hirt J, Hahn C, Gauggel D, Russell B, et al. 2021. The Movebank system for studying global animal movement and demography. Methods Ecol Evol. doi:10.1111/2041-210X.13767 https://doi.org/10.5441/001/1.s367rd3k (CC0 1.0 Universal)
About the white stork
The white stork is a large bird in the stork family, Ciconiidae. Its plumage is mainly white, with black on the bird's wings. Adults have long red legs and long pointed red beaks, and measure on average 100–115 cm (39–45 in) from beak tip to end of tail, with a 155–215 cm (61–85 in) wingspan. …
From the Wikipedia article “White stork” (revision 1380253532), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Sources
GBIF occurrence records, licence CC0 1.0 or CC BY 4.0 only, observations only (no specimens), filtered with: taxonKey=2481912&license=CC0_1_0&license=CC_BY_4_0&occurrenceStatus=PRESENT&hasGeospatialIssue=false&basisOfRecord=HUMAN_OBSERVATION&basisOfRecord=MACHINE_OBSERVATION&basisOfRecord=OBSERVATION. Monthly queries: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec. GBIF.org (23 October 2026) occurrence data accessed via the GBIF API; a GBIF download DOI is still to be added. Contributing datasets.