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Though they are loudest of all storks, C. nigra are fairly quiet birds. They have few loud vocalizations, using low grunts, whistles and hisses, in a che lee che lee pattern. Most vocal communication takes place in the form of the bill-chattering during mating season.
Information is processed visually by C. nigra. They hunt by eye-sight, unlike some of their relatives, which catch prey by touch. Black storks also use vision and sound when finding a mate.
Communication Channels: visual ; acoustic
Other Communication Modes: duets
Perception Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
The IUCN Red List has classified C. nigra as Least Concern. There is a global population of 32,000 to 44,000 individuals of black storks. The population is decreasing, mostly due to deforestation and destruction of habitat. Black storks have also been hunted. During migration, many storks die during collisions with power lines. In some areas in their wintering range in Africa C. nigra is also protected by law.
US Migratory Bird Act: no special status
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: appendix ii
State of Michigan List: no special status
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern
There are no known adverse effects of C. nigra on humans.
Aside from their beauty and importance in their native ecosystems, there are no known positive effects of C. nigra on humans.
Black storks are predators of small vertebrates in the ecosystems they inhabit. They prey on mostly aquatic life, such as fish and amphibians. In some areas of Europe, mostly Spain, C. nigra are hosts to Cathaemasia hians, a trematode. The temperature of the black stork's digestive tract allows for the trematode to complete its life cycle. The trematode is usually found in its primary host, fish species, but gets taken up by C. nigra through feeding. It is then passed to young by the black storks feeding of the young. Because such feeding takes place by adult regurgitation, Cathaemasia hians are also found on the nest floor, infecting all nestlings.
Commensal/Parasitic Species:
These carnivorous birds locate prey by standing in the water with wings outstretched. They also walk stealthily with their heads down in order to see prey. When one spots food, it lunges its head forward, grabbing with its long bill. Black storks tend to hunt on their own unless food is abundant, when larger groups form to take advantage of rich food resources.
The diet includes frogs, salamanders, eels, small reptiles, fish, and occasional small mammals. During breeding season, fish make up the majority of the diet.
Animal Foods: mammals; amphibians; reptiles; fish; insects; terrestrial non-insect arthropods; mollusks
Primary Diet: carnivore (Eats terrestrial vertebrates, Piscivore )
Black storks (Ciconia nigra) have the widest geographical range of any species in the stork family (Ciconiidae). They are found throughout the Palearctic, from Spain to China during the nesting season. In autumn, C. nigra individuals migrate south to South Africa and India to overwinter.
Biogeographic Regions: palearctic (Native ); ethiopian (Native )
Black storks breed in quiet, wooded areas which are close to water. They build nests high in trees and forage in marshy wetlands and rivers. They can be found in hilly, mountainous terrain also, as long as there is enough water nearby for foraging. Less is known about their wintering range, but they are presumably found in wetland areas in which they hunt for food.
Range elevation: 2000 (high) m.
Habitat Regions: temperate ; terrestrial
Terrestrial Biomes: forest ; scrub forest ; mountains
Aquatic Biomes: rivers and streams; temporary pools
Wetlands: marsh ; swamp
Other Habitat Features: riparian
Black storks have been recorded living as long as 18 years in the wild and longer, 31 years, in captivity.
Range lifespan
Status: wild: 18 (high) years.
Range lifespan
Status: captivity: 31 (high) years.
Average lifespan
Status: wild: 18.0 years.
Average lifespan
Status: captivity: 31.0 years.
Similar to white storks, black storks are large birds with sturdy builds, weighing approximately 3 kilograms. They are 95 to 100 cm tall with a wingspan of 144 to 155 cm. They have long necks, bills, and legs, short tails, and wide wings. They have a black body with varying green and purple gloss on the feathers and white areas on the breast and belly. The bill and legs are scarlet red, intensifying during mating season. In winter months, the bill and legs turn brown.
Males are larger than females, but the sexes are otherwise alike. Young black storks do not have as a rich coloration to their feathers, but these colors become vibrant by one year of age.
Average mass: 3000 g.
Range length: 95 to 100 cm.
Range wingspan: 144 to 155 cm.
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; homoiothermic; bilateral symmetry
Sexual Dimorphism: male larger
There are no documented natural predators of C. nigra. Humans are the only known species to threaten black storks. Much of this threat is due to habitat destruction and some hunting.
Black storks have a similar mating system to their white stork relatives. Males and females exchange an “up-down” courtship. One raises its head and drops it back down and rests it on the back of its body. This is accompanied by vocalizations called bill-clattering. The bird snaps its top and bottom jaws, creating the clattering sound. Unlike white storks, C. nigra does not continually vocalize, but has infrequent clattering that may last throughout the night. Once a mate has been found, black storks are seasonally monogamous, remaining with their mate through the breeding season but not across years.
Mating System: monogamous
Ciconia nigra breed annually in late April or May. Females lay between 3 to 5 white, oval eggs per clutch in large nests made of sticks and mud. These nests are often reused over many seasons. Parents will sometimes inadvertently care for birds from other nests, including the young of black eagles (Ictinaetus malayensis) and hamerkops (Scopus umbretta).
It takes 32 to 38 days for black stork eggs to hatch and up to 71 days until the young fledge. After fledging, young black storks remain dependent on parent storks. They do not gain independence for a few weeks after fledging, and are not sexually mature until they are 3 to 5 years old.
Breeding interval: Black storks breed once annually.
Breeding season: Breeding takes place in late April or May.
Range eggs per season: 3 to 5.
Range time to hatching: 32 to 38 days.
Range fledging age: 63 to 71 days.
Average time to independence: 3 weeks.
Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female): 3 to 5 years.
Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male): 3 to 5 years.
Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; oviparous
Male and female black storks share in the care of their young. Males and females build nests. Males determine where the nest is to be located and collect the sticks, mud, and grass. Females assemble the nest. Incubation is the responsibility of both male and female storks, though females are generally the primary incubators. When nest temperatures become too hot, parents occasionally regurgitate water onto the eggs and young to cool them down.
Both parents feed the young. Food is regurgitated onto the nest floor and the young black storks will feed off the bottom of the nest.
Parental Investment: altricial ; pre-fertilization (Provisioning, Protecting: Female); pre-hatching/birth (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Male, Female); pre-weaning/fledging (Provisioning: Male, Female, Protecting: Male, Female); pre-independence (Provisioning: Male, Female, Protecting: Male, Female)
