[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":261},["ShallowReactive",2],{"families_en:\u002Fsemeystva\u002Faistovye":3,"alt-locale:families_en:\u002Fsemeystva\u002Faistovye":116,"section-listing:disabled":117,"section-listing:families_en:\u002Fsemeystva":118,"related-covers:en:\u002Fsemeystva\u002Ftsaplevye|\u002Fsemeystva|\u002Fopredelitel":255},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"coverImage":76,"description":77,"extension":78,"faq":79,"imagePrompt":89,"latinName":20,"meta":90,"navigation":91,"order":92,"pageType":93,"path":94,"publishedAt":95,"readingMinutes":96,"relatedLinks":97,"seo":110,"sitemap":113,"stem":114,"taxonRank":93,"updatedAt":92,"__hash__":115},"families_en\u002Fsemeystva\u002Faistovye.md","Storks (Ciconiidae)",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":68},"minimark",[9,14,22,29,33,36,39,43,57,61],[10,11,13],"h2",{"id":12},"what-makes-ciconiidae-a-family","What makes Ciconiidae a family",[15,16,17,21],"p",{},[18,19,20],"strong",{},"Ciconiidae",", the stork family, comprises around 19 species of large, long-legged wading birds found across much of the world, unified by a heavily built body, very long legs, a long, straight, sturdy bill adapted to grasping rather than spearing prey, and broad, powerful wings suited to efficient long-distance soaring flight. Storks are among the largest flying birds regularly encountered across their range, and their size, combined with a striking largely white-and-black or dark plumage in many species, makes them conspicuous wherever they occur.",[15,23,24,25,28],{},"A defining behavioral trait across the family is the near-total reliance on ",[18,26,27],{},"non-vocal communication",", particularly bill-clattering, since adult storks of most species have only a limited capacity for loud vocal calls compared with many other large waterbirds, making bill-clattering displays and postural signals central to nest-site greeting and territorial communication.",[10,30,32],{"id":31},"distinctive-traits-across-the-family","Distinctive traits across the family",[15,34,35],{},"The white stork, the sole species covered so far in this atlas, illustrates several traits shared broadly across the family: an exceptionally large, reused, and often expanded stick nest, frequently placed on an elevated human structure such as a rooftop or utility pole, a diet dominated by amphibians, large insects, and small vertebrates hunted by walking and probing across open ground and shallow water, and a migration strategy built almost entirely around soaring flight over land rather than sustained flapping.",[15,37,38],{},"Flight posture is another useful family-wide identification trait: storks characteristically fly with the neck extended fully forward rather than folded back, a clear visual distinction from the superficially similar herons that share some of the same wetland habitat but belong to a separate, unrelated family.",[10,40,42],{"id":41},"species-in-this-family","Species in this family",[15,44,45,46,51,52,56],{},"This atlas currently covers one member of Ciconiidae: the ",[47,48,50],"a",{"href":49},"\u002Fen\u002Fvidy-ptic\u002Fvidy\u002Fbely-aist","white stork"," (",[53,54,55],"em",{},"Ciconia ciconia","), a massive white-and-black wading bird famous for its enormous rooftop stick nests, its non-vocal bill-clattering displays, and one of the most dramatic overland migrations of any large European bird, traveling to winter across sub-Saharan Africa. Further Ciconiidae species native to the atlas's covered regions will be added to the catalogue over time.",[10,58,60],{"id":59},"where-and-when-to-watch-this-family","Where and when to watch this family",[15,62,63,64,67],{},"Open wet meadows, marshes, and farmland close to villages or towns with tall, stable nesting structures are the most reliable places to find this family, with the best viewing typically from ",[18,65,66],{},"spring through late summer",", when breeding storks are actively tending nests and can often be observed foraging on nearby fields and wetlands. Late summer and early autumn additionally offer the chance to see large soaring flocks gathering ahead of and during migration, particularly at traditional overland crossing points.",{"title":69,"searchDepth":70,"depth":70,"links":71},"",2,[72,73,74,75],{"id":12,"depth":70,"text":13},{"id":31,"depth":70,"text":32},{"id":41,"depth":70,"text":42},{"id":59,"depth":70,"text":60},"\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Faistovye.png","The stork family: massive, long-legged wading birds with long straight bills, epitomized by the white stork's huge rooftop nests and dramatic overland migration to Africa.","md",[80,83,86],{"q":81,"a":82},"What physical traits define the stork family?","Ciconiidae species share a large, heavily built body, very long legs suited to wading and walking across open ground and shallow water, a long, straight, often stout bill adapted to seizing rather than spearing prey, and broad, powerful wings built for efficient soaring flight over long distances rather than fast, agile maneuvering.",{"q":84,"a":85},"How do storks differ from herons, which they are often confused with?","Storks fly with the neck held fully extended forward rather than folded back into an S-shape as herons do, generally build much larger and more permanent stick nests often placed on buildings or other elevated structures, and largely lack the loud vocal calls typical of herons, relying instead on bill-clattering and other non-vocal displays for communication.",{"q":87,"a":88},"Why do many stork species rely so heavily on soaring flight during migration?","Because of their large size and heavy body weight, sustained flapping flight over very long distances would be extremely energy-costly, so many stork species, the white stork included, migrate primarily by soaring on rising columns of warm air, or thermals, that form over land, a strategy that concentrates migrating birds along specific overland routes and largely avoids extended open-water crossings where thermals do not form.","Photorealistic wildlife photography, a white stork standing on a large stick nest atop an old village rooftop at golden hour, pure white plumage, glossy black flight feathers folded along the back, long red legs and bill, wings partly raised as if about to take flight, sharp focus on the eye, soft-focus background of a warm evening sky over distant farmland, warm low-angle backlight, shallow depth of field, telephoto lens compression, 16:9",{},true,null,"family","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Faistovye","13.07.2026",1,[98,102,106],{"label":99,"path":100,"description":101},"Herons (Ardeidae)","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Ftsaplevye","Another large long-legged wading bird family, often confused with storks",{"label":103,"path":104,"description":105},"Bird families","\u002Fsemeystva","Species grouped by taxonomic family",{"label":107,"path":108,"description":109},"Bird identifier","\u002Fopredelitel","Identify a bird you've seen by color, size, beak shape, habitat, and season",{"title":111,"description":112},"Storks (Ciconiidae) — traits and species","Ciconiidae, the stork family: massive long-legged waders with straight bills, known for huge stick nests and long-distance soaring migration. Traits and species.",{"loc":94},"semeystva\u002Faistovye","1WizBbZNiZOzHNFP8yUtRVskrxrvTn6Y7GFpt134s2I",{"ru":91,"es":91},[],[119,124,129,134,139,144,150,155,160,163,168,173,178,183,188,193,198,204,209,210,215,220,225,230,235,240,245,250],{"title":120,"description":121,"path":122,"coverImage":123,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Buntings (Emberizidae)","The bunting family: sturdy, seed-eating farmland and open-country songbirds represented here by the vividly yellow-headed yellowhammer, one of Europe's most familiar hedgerow singers.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fovsyankovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fovsyankovye.png",{"title":125,"description":126,"path":127,"coverImage":128,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Crows, Ravens, and Allies (Corvidae)","The crow family: some of the most intelligent birds on Earth, from the tiny, sociable jackdaw to the giant common raven, united by cognitive sophistication and remarkable behavioral flexibility.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fvranovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fvranovye.png",{"title":130,"description":131,"path":132,"coverImage":133,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Cuckoos (Cuculidae)","The cuckoo family: slender, long-tailed birds best known for the common cuckoo's remarkable brood-parasitic lifestyle, tricking other species into raising its young.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fkukushkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fkukushkovye.png",{"title":135,"description":136,"path":137,"coverImage":138,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Falcons (Falconidae)","The falcon family: fast, direct-flying birds of prey with a distinctive hooked, tomial-toothed beak, found on every continent except Antarctica.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fsokolinye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fsokolinye.png",{"title":140,"description":141,"path":142,"coverImage":143,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Finches (Fringillidae)","The true finch family: small, seed-eating songbirds with conical beaks ranging from the everyday chaffinch to the specialized, cone-prying red crossbill.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fvjurkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fvjurkovye.png",{"title":145,"description":146,"path":147,"coverImage":148,"publishedAt":149,"order":92},"Grebes (Podicipedidae)","The grebe family: highly specialized freshwater diving birds with lobed toes, elaborate courtship displays, and chicks that ride on their parents' backs while swimming.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fpogankovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fpogankovye.png","07.08.2026",{"title":151,"description":152,"path":153,"coverImage":154,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Gulls (Laridae)","The gull family: adaptable, highly social waterbirds ranging from the small, brown-hooded black-headed gull to the larger, plain-billed common gull, equally at home on coasts and inland waters.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fchaykovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fchaykovye.png",{"title":156,"description":157,"path":158,"coverImage":159,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Hawks, Eagles, and Kites (Accipitridae)","The largest family of diurnal birds of prey, spanning soaring buzzards, forest-hunting goshawks, massive fish eagles, and scavenging kites united by a hooked beak and taloned feet.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fyastrebinye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fyastrebinye.png",{"title":99,"description":161,"path":100,"coverImage":162,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"The heron family: patient, statuesque wetland hunters with a coiled S-shaped neck and dagger-like bill, epitomized by the grey heron's motionless watch at the water's edge.","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Ftsaplevye.png",{"title":164,"description":165,"path":166,"coverImage":167,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Hoopoes (Upupidae)","A small family built around a single unmistakable species, the Eurasian hoopoe, known for its fan-like crest, curved probing beak, and unusual glandular nest defenses.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fudodovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fudodovye.png",{"title":169,"description":170,"path":171,"coverImage":172,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Larks (Alaudidae)","The lark family: streaked, ground-nesting birds of open farmland and grassland, best known for the extraordinary sustained soaring song-flight of the Eurasian skylark.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fzhavoronkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fzhavoronkovye.png",{"title":174,"description":175,"path":176,"coverImage":177,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Old World Flycatchers and Chats (Muscicapidae)","A family spanning the beloved orange-breasted robin, the vocally legendary nightingale, and the acrobatic pied flycatcher, unified more by ancestry and insect-catching habits than by appearance.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fmuholovkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fmuholovkovye.png",{"title":179,"description":180,"path":181,"coverImage":182,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Old World Orioles (Oriolidae)","A family of brilliantly colored but famously shy canopy songbirds, represented in Europe by the golden oriole, a bird more often identified by its fluting song than by sight.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fivolgovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fivolgovye.png",{"title":184,"description":185,"path":186,"coverImage":187,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Old World Sparrows (Passeridae)","The Old World sparrow family: small, sociable, seed-eating birds closely tied to human settlement, from the familiar house sparrow to its quieter, farmland-favoring relative the tree sparrow.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fvorobyinye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fvorobyinye.png",{"title":189,"description":190,"path":191,"coverImage":192,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Pigeons and Doves (Columbidae)","The pigeon family: stout-bodied, small-headed birds fed on crop milk as chicks, spanning the city-adapted rock dove and wood pigeon to the increasingly rare, long-distance migrant turtle dove.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fgolubinye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fgolubinye.png",{"title":194,"description":195,"path":196,"coverImage":197,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Plovers and Lapwings (Charadriidae)","The plover family: compact, large-eyed waders with short bills adapted for visual foraging, from the crested, iridescent northern lapwing to its smaller and plainer relatives.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Frzhankovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Frzhankovye.png",{"title":199,"description":200,"path":201,"coverImage":202,"publishedAt":203,"order":92},"Rails, Crakes, and Coots (Rallidae)","The rail family: laterally flattened marsh specialists built for slipping through dense reed beds, ranging from the secretive corncrake to the bold, aggressive Eurasian coot.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fpastushkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fpastushkovye.png","17.08.2026",{"title":205,"description":206,"path":207,"coverImage":208,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Starlings (Sturnidae)","The starling family: gregarious, iridescent, highly vocal songbirds represented in Europe by the common starling and its spectacular winter murmurations.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fskvorcovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fskvorcovye.png",{"title":5,"description":77,"path":94,"coverImage":76,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},{"title":211,"description":212,"path":213,"coverImage":214,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Swallows and Martins (Hirundinidae)","The swallow family: sleek, long-winged aerial insect-hunters that spend most of their waking lives on the wing, from the red-throated barn swallow to the white-rumped house martin.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Flastochkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Flastochkovye.png",{"title":216,"description":217,"path":218,"coverImage":219,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Swifts (Apodidae)","The swift family: extreme aerial specialists that spend nearly their entire lives in flight, closer in ancestry to hummingbirds than to the swallows they superficially resemble.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fstrizhinye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fstrizhinye.png",{"title":221,"description":222,"path":223,"coverImage":224,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Sylvia Warblers (Sylviidae)","A family of small, plainly plumaged, densely-vegetation-loving warblers prized far more for their voices than their looks, exemplified by the richly singing Eurasian blackcap.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fslavkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fslavkovye.png",{"title":226,"description":227,"path":228,"coverImage":229,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Thrushes (Turdidae)","The thrush family: medium-sized, powerful-singing ground foragers, from the glossy black common blackbird to the heavily spotted song thrush and the gregarious, flocking fieldfare.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fdrozdovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fdrozdovye.png",{"title":231,"description":232,"path":233,"coverImage":234,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Tits (Paridae)","The tit family: small, acrobatic, cavity-nesting songbirds from the bold, dominant great tit to the tiny, cache-obsessed coal tit, among the most familiar and intensively studied garden birds in Europe.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fsinitsevye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fsinitsevye.png",{"title":236,"description":237,"path":238,"coverImage":239,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Typical Owls (Strigidae)","The largest owl family, spanning the familiar tawny owl, tufted long-eared owl, and the giant Eurasian eagle-owl, united by forward-facing eyes, silent flight, and mostly nocturnal habits.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fsovinye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fsovinye.png",{"title":241,"description":242,"path":243,"coverImage":244,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Wagtails and Pipits (Motacillidae)","A family of slender, long-tailed, ground-foraging songbirds best exemplified by the constantly tail-bobbing white wagtail, equally at home beside a river or in a busy town square.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Ftryasoguzkovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Ftryasoguzkovye.png",{"title":246,"description":247,"path":248,"coverImage":249,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Waterfowl (Anatidae)","The waterfowl family: ducks, geese, and swans, unified by webbed feet, waterproof plumage, and a broad flattened bill, from the familiar mallard to the massive mute swan.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Futinye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Futinye.png",{"title":251,"description":252,"path":253,"coverImage":254,"publishedAt":95,"order":92},"Woodpeckers (Picidae)","The woodpecker family: powerful, tree-climbing excavators built to hammer into wood, from the widespread black-and-white great spotted woodpecker to the crow-sized black woodpecker.","\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fdyatlovye","\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Fdyatlovye.png",[256,257,259],{"label":99,"path":100,"description":101,"coverImage":162},{"label":103,"path":104,"description":105,"coverImage":258},"\u002Fimages\u002Fsemeystva\u002Findex.png",{"label":107,"path":108,"description":109,"coverImage":260},"\u002Fimages\u002Fopredelitel\u002Findex.png",1787114560022]