Cegonha-preta (Black-stork)

Characteristics

Back, wings, neck and head in black tones.

White belly.

The skin around the eyes and in the legs is red in the adults or greenish in the young

Smaller than the common white stork, it is about 1meter long and 2 meters wide.

Sensitive and shy species, being hardly observed in the wild.

Food

It feeds on small fish, some crustaceans and small amphibians and insects.

It finds its main food in some rivers or lakes.

They are useful for agriculture as they control insect pests that are harmful to the growth of
some plants.

Habitat and Life

It mainly inhabits and nests in hard to reach places such as pine forests, small forests or rocky
hills, usually near lakes or rivers where they spend most of their time.

During the nesting season (late spring and early summer) it is distributed throughout Europe
and northern Asia.

During the winter they migrate to Africa or South Asia. Some storks do not migrate and live
permanently in the Iberian Peninsula, South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Botswana.

In Portugal there are about 90 couples of this species and they can be observed in Trás-os-
Montes (Douro), Lisbon and Vale do Tejo (Tejo), Alentejo (Guadiana) or Cabo de São Vicente.

The incubation time lasts about 3 weeks.

It reaches the maturity and independence of its parents at 70 days old.

Start reproduction at about 3 years old

They have an average life span of 20 to 30 years.

Threats

Man

Use of
Pollution Habitat loss
pesticides

Water Infrastructure
Poisoning Less food Forest fires
contamination construction

Conservation

There are biological parks that conserve this species in Portugal, such as the Gaia Biological
Park or the Douro International Natural Park. This type of park creates protected areas for this
species to live without human intervention.