Bird Album
Oriental Stork
Ciconia boyciana Swinhoe, 1873
100–129 cmLength198 cmWingspan4.8 kgWeight
This large stork has a white body, black wings, red skin around the eye and a black bill.
Busiest months: December · Most records: China, Russia, South Korea
Looks like White Stork
How to identify
Field marks
- Body white; wings black
- Red skin around the eye; iris white
- Bill black
- Usually larger than White Stork; body length over 1 m
Male, female and young
Sexes similar; female slightly smaller; juvenile white with an orange bill.
Similar species
Where and when it's recorded
Busiest months: December · Most records: China, Russia, South Korea
Oriental Stork has been recorded at 293 of the 8,276 birding hotspots we track, in 5 countries and regions.
Records by month Northern Hemisphere
To protect this bird from disturbance, we don't list exact sites.
Countries and regions with the most records
eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.
About
The Oriental stork (Ciconia boyciana; traditional Chinese: 東方白鸛; simplified Chinese: 东方白鹳; pinyin: dōngfāng bái guàn; Japanese: コウノトリ Kounotori; Korean: 황새 Hwangsae) is a large, white bird with black-feathered wings in the stork family Ciconiidae.
Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia
Questions
How big is the Oriental Stork?
The Oriental Stork is about 100–129 cm long, with a wingspan of 198 cm and weighs around 4.8 kg.
Where does the Oriental Stork live?
Its breeding range: Palearctic: southeastern Siberia, northeastern China, Korea, Japan. It is most often recorded in China, Russia and South Korea.
When is the best time to see the Oriental Stork?
At the hotspots we track, it is recorded most in December (Northern Hemisphere).
Is the Oriental Stork endangered?
The IUCN Red List classifies the Oriental Stork as Endangered.
What does the Oriental Stork eat?
Main food: Fish, shrimp & shellfish.
What family is the Oriental Stork in?
It belongs to the family Storks (Ciconiidae), order Ciconiiformes.
At a glance
- Length
- 100–129 cm
- Wingspan
- 198 cm
- Weight
- 4.8 kg
- Habitat
- Wetland
- Diet
- Fish, shrimp & shellfish
- Lifestyle
- Active on the ground
- Migration
- Migratory
- Conservation
- Endangered
More measurements
- Wing
- 602 mm
- Tail
- 228 mm
- Bill
- 225 mm
- Tarsus
- 254 mm
Averages from the AVONET dataset; length from field guides where available.
Range
Palearctic: southeastern Siberia, northeastern China, Korea, Japan
Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2
Classification
- Order
- Ciconiiformes
- Family
- Storks Ciconiidae
- Genus
- Ciconia
Other birds in the genus Ciconia
Abdim's StorkCiconia abdimii
African Woolly-necked StorkCiconia microscelis
Asian Woolly-necked StorkCiconia episcopus
Storm's StorkCiconia stormi
Black StorkCiconia nigra
Maguari StorkCiconia maguari
White StorkCiconia ciconia
African OpenbillAnastomus lamelligerus
Asian OpenbillAnastomus oscitans
Marabou StorkLeptoptilos crumenifer
Download illustration
Free to use with credit: “Illustration: Bird Album (birdalbum.com)”. Drawn by AI from reference photos. ↗
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