Belongs within: Aequornithia.
The Ciconiidae, storks, are large long-legged and -billed birds found primarily in warmer parts of the world. Storks are often described as voiceless, only communicating by rattling their bills. However, while this is largely true of the white stork Ciconia ciconia, other species may produce a variety of sounds such as whistling (Cramp & Simmons 1977).
Most storks have straight dagger-like bills but the wood storks Mycteria have bills that are down-curved at the end. The openbill storks Anastomus have the upper and lower mandibles arched away from each other and meeting only at the tip. Species of the genus Ciconia are medium-sized storks with feathered heads and predominantly black and white plumage. Genera other than Ciconia and Anastomus have the head and often neck bare of plumage to varying degrees. The adjutants Leptoptilos are large storks with black upperparts, white underparts and yellow to red skin on the head and neck.
Characters (Cramp & Simmons 1977): Large to huge wading and terrestrial birds. Body sturdy, elongate; neck long, head rather large. Male slightly bigger than female. Wings long and broad. Flight flapping, with neck usually outstretched; also engage in dynamic soaring. Twelve primaries; p7–p9 longest; p12 minute or absent. About 22 secondaries; diastataxic. Tail short, square or slightly rounded; twelve feathers. Under tail-coverts long and sometimes fluffy. Bill long and heavy, massive in some, tapering to blunt point. Straight or slightly upturned, rarely moderately decurved or with remarkable gap between cutting edges. Nostrils mainly slits at base of bill. Head partly or wholly bare. Large air-sacs under skin of neck; long, pendant, naked, distensible pouch occasionally present. Legs long, lower half or more of tibia bare. Toes relatively short with small webs at base, hind toe elevated; no claws pectinated. Tarsus reticulate. Stance upright, gait striding. Oil gland feathered. Feathers with short aftershaft (occasionally absent); down on feather tracts and apteria. Powder-down patches absent. Plumate white, grey, brown, and black, often with metallic reflections. Usually boldly patterned, often black and white; most species with pale underparts. Elaborate plumes absent, but thick ruff of feathers may be present on lower foreneck. Bare parts brightly coloured throughout year. Sexes generally similar. Breeding plumage like non-breeding or slightly more colourful. Moults poorly known, mostly one per cycle. Primaries replaced in descendant or serially descendant order, or irregularly. Young semi-altricial and nidicolous. Two coats of down, first growing from same follicles as later contour feathers, second from same follicles as adult down. Juveniles reach full plumage in second calendar year.
<==Ciconiidae [Melanopelargidae]
|--Ciconia Brisson 1760BKB15, M02 [incl. Melanopelargus Reichenbach 1852B94]
| | i. s.: C. albaK08
| | C. gaudryi Lambrecht 1933M02
| | C. kahli Haarhoff 1988B93
| | C. leucocephalaScl66
| | C. louisebolesae Boles 2005M09
| | C. malthaFP64
| | C. pillusF43
| | C. sarmatica Grigorescu & Kessler 1977M02
| | C. stehlini Jánossy 1992M02
| |--+--C. maguariBKB15
| | `--+--C. boyciana Swinhoe 1873BKB15, CS77 [=C. ciconia boycianaCS77]
| | `--C. ciconia (Linnaeus 1758)BKB15, CS77 [=Ardea ciconiaCS77; incl. C. urbicolaF17]
| | |--C. c. ciconiaCS77
| | `--C. c. asiatica Severtzov 1872CS77
| `--+--C. nigra (Linnaeus 1758)BKB15, CS77 [=Ardea nigraCS77]
| `--+--C. abdimiiBKB15
| `--+--C. episcopusBKB15
| `--C. stormiBKB15
`--+--+--Jabiru mycteriaBKB15
| `--EphippiorhynchusBKB15
| |--E. asiaticus (Latham 1790)PB96
| | |--E. a. asiaticusPB96
| | `--E. a. australis (Shaw 1800)PB96
| `--E. senegalensisBKB15
`--Leptoptilos Lesson 1831BKB15, M02 [Leptoptilidae]
| i. s.: L. dubiusJT12
| L. falconeriVR72
| L. pliocenicus Zubareva 1948 [=Leptoptilus (l. c.) pliocenicus]M02
| L. titanVR72
|--L. crumeniferus (Lesson 1831)BKB15, CS77 [=Ciconia crumeniferaCS77]
`--+--L. javanicusBKB15
`--Mycteria Linnaeus 1758BKB15, B94 (see below for synonymy)
| i. s.: ‘Ibis’ cayennensisK08
| ‘Ibis’ cristataSch66
| ‘Tantalus’ igneus [=Ibis ignea]F17
| ‘Tantalus’ lacteusK08
| ‘Ibis’ religiosaSch66
|--*M. americana Linnaeus 1758L58, BKB15, L58 [incl. *Tantalus loculalor Linnaeus 1758B94, L58]
`--+--M. ibis (Linnaeus 1766)BKB15, CS77 (see below for synonymy)
`--+--M. cinereaBKB15 [=Ibis cinereaB94, Pseudotantalus cinereusB94]
`--M. leucocephalaBKB15 [=Ibis leucocephalusB94, Pseudotantalus leucocephalusB94]
Ciconiidae incertae sedis:
‘Cygnus’ bilinicus Laube 1909 [=Aquilavus bilinicus]M02
Palaeoephippiorhynchus dietrichi Lambrecht 1930M09
ProciconiaVR72
PalaeopelargusVR72
Pelargosteon Kretzoi 1962M02
`--*P. tothi Kretzoi 1962M02
Grallavis Cheneval 1984M02
`--*G. edwardsi (Lydekker 1891) [=Propelargus edwardsi]M02
Anastomus Bonnaterre 1791 [Anastomidae]B94
|--A. lamelligerusJT12
`--A. oscitansJT12
DissouraK08
|--D. episcopusK08
`--D. microscelisK08
XenorhynchusWS48
|--X. asiaticus (Latham 1790) [=Mycteria asiatica]WS48
| |--X. a. asiaticusWS48
| `--X. a. australis (Shaw 1800) [=Mycteria australis; incl. X. asiaticus rogersi Mathews 1912]WS48
`--X. senegalensis (Shaw 1800)PB96
Sphenorhynchus abdimiRN72
Eociconia sangequanensis Hou 1989M09
Nomen nudum: Tantalus brecciensis Giebel 1847 [=*Tantaleus brecciensis]M02
Mycteria Linnaeus 1758BKB15, B94 [incl. Ibis Lacépède 1799B94, Tantaleus Reichenbach 1852 (n. n.)M02, Tantalus Linné 1766B94; Mycteriidae, Tantalidae]
Mycteria ibis (Linnaeus 1766)BKB15, CS77 [=Tantalus ibisB94, Ibis ibisB94, Numenius ibisC00, Pseudotantalus ibisB94; incl. *I. candidusB94, Tantalus pavoninusC00]
*Type species of generic name indicated
References
[B94] Bock, W. J. 1994. History and nomenclature of avian family-group names. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 222: 1–281.
[B93] Brooke, R. K. 1993. Annotated catalogue of the Aves type specimens in the South African Museum. Annals of the South African Museum 102 (10): 327–349.
[BKB15] Burleigh, J. G., R. T. Kimball & E. L. Braun. 2015. Building the avian tree of life using a large-scale, sparse supermatrix. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 84: 53–63.
[CS77] Cramp, S., & K. E. L. Simmons (eds) 1977. Handbook of the Birds of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa: The Birds of the Western Palaearctic vol. 1. Ostrich to Ducks. Oxford University Press: Oxford.
[C00] Cuvier, G. 1800. Sur l’ibis des anciens Egyptiens. Bulletin des Sciences, par la Societé Philomathique de Paris 2 (39): 119.
[FP64] Fisher, J., & R. T. Peterson. 1964. The World of Birds: A comprehensive guide to general ornithology. Macdonald: London.
[F17] Forster, T. 1817. A synoptical catalogue of British birds; intended to identify the species mentioned by different names in several catalogues already extant. Forming a book of reference to observations on British ornithology. Nichols, Son, and Bentley: London.
[F43] Fraser, L. 1843. On the collection of birds brought to England by Mr. Bridges. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 11: 108–121.
[JT12] Jetz, W., G. H. Thomas, J. B. Joy, K. Hartmann & A. Ø. Mooers. 2012. The global diversity of birds in space and time. Nature 491: 444–448.
[K08] Kellogg, V. L. 1908. Wissenschaftliche Ergebnisse der Schwedischen Zoologischen Expedition nach dem Kilimandjaro, dem Meru und den Umgebenden Massaisteppen Deutsch-Ostafrikas 1905–1906 vol. 15. Corrodentia pt 4. Mallophaga. Almqvist & Wiksells Boktryckeri-A. B.: Uppsala.
[L58] Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis revised 10th ed. vol. 1. Laurentii Salvii: Holmiae.
[M09] Mayr, G. 2009. Paleogene Fossil Birds. Springer.
[M02] Mlíkovský, J. 2002. Cenozoic Birds of the World. Part 1: Europe. Ninox Press: Praha.
[PB96] Palma, R. L., & S. C. Barker. 1996. Phthiraptera. In: Wells, A. (ed.) Zoological Catalogue of Australia vol. 26. Psocoptera, Phthiraptera, Thysanoptera pp. 81–247. CSIRO Publishing: Melbourne.
[RN72] Rutgers, A., & K. A. Norris (eds) 1972. Encyclopaedia of Aviculture vol. 1. London, Blandford Press.
[Sch66] Schlegel, H. 1866. Communication from, on mammals and birds collected in Madagascar. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 419–426.
[Scl66] Sclater, P. L. 1866. Notice of recent additions to the Society’s menagerie. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 418–419.
[VR72] Vickers Rich, P. 1972. A fossil avifauna from the Upper Miocene Beglia Formation of Tunisia. Notes du Service Géologique 35: 29–66.
[WS48] Whittell, H. M., & D. L. Serventy. 1948. A systematic list of the birds of Western Australia. Public Library, Museum and Art Gallery of Western Australia, Special Publication 1: 1–126.