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Species › Birds

White Stork

Ciconia ciconia

Order
Ciconiiformes
Family
Ciconiidae
Presence in the Strait
Resident
Abundance
abundant
Protection in Spain
Special protection (List)
In Spanish
Cigüeña blanca

Photograph: xulescu_g, CC BY-SA, vía iNaturalist

Length
100–115 cm
Wingspan
195 cm
Weight
3,100–3,500 g
050100150200LENGTH100–115 cmWINGSPAN195 cmcentimetres

Presence in the Strait

Abundant resident in villages and the countryside. Breeding population of 341 pairs, with a notable recovery over the last decade. In 1991 birds began to winter (currently >1,000).

Identification

White body with black and white wings. Long bill and legs, bright red. In flight, neck extended unlike Grey Heron.

Movements

Birds that cross the Strait are Western European. Postnuptial migration from the middle of July to October (>113,000 birds), with peaks in 1st hf. August that correspond to Spanish, Portuguese and French birds, and in September and October that correspond to birds from the rest of Europe. Prenuptial migration from the beginning of February to middle of May, with peaks in 1st hf. March. The arrival of birds from the South can be seen in December and January, swelling the winter population; these may be birds returning from the presaharan areas, where they have been during the Autumn.

Ring recoveries

Birds ringed outside Cadiz province, come from: Germany (141), Austria (4), Spain (90), France (27), Holland (194), Portugal (8) and Switzerland (275); and birds ringed in the province, have been controlled in: Algeria (9), Chad (2), Ivory Coast (2), Spain (78), Ghana (1), Guinea Conakry (1), Mali (28), Morocco (57), Mauritania (4), Niger (2), Nigeria (6), Republic of South Africa (1), Tanzania (1), Tunisia (1) and Zimbabwe (1). Ciconiidae Cigüeña Negra Cigüeña Blanca

Bioestrecho editorial text. Last revised: 8 September 2026.

Gallery

Photographs from iNaturalist observations with the licence checked file by file. Those marked “Strait” were taken within the area; place and date are those of each observation.