Ciconiidae

White stork Ciconia ciconia photographed by Koalazf.

Belongs within: Neoaves.

The Ciconiidae are the storks, large long-legged and -billed birds found primarily in warmer parts of the world. Storks do not produce any vocalisations, but do communicate by rattling their bills (Austin 1961). Most storks have straight dagger-like bills, but the wood storks Mycteria have bills that are down-curved at the end, while the openbill storks Anastomus have the upper and lower mandibles arched away from each other and meeting only at the tip.

Characters (from Austin 1961): Toes partially webbed at base; hind toe elevated. Powder down patches absent. Syrinx unmuscled.

<==Ciconiidae [Melanopelargidae]
    |--Ciconia Brisson 1760 M02 [incl. Melanopelargus Reichenbach 1852 B94]
    |    |  i. s.: C. gaudryi Lambrecht 1933 M02
    |    |         C. kahli Haarhoff 1988 B93
    |    |         C. leucocephala Scl66
    |    |         C. maltha FP64
    |    |         C. sarmatica Grigorescu & Kessler 1977 M02
    |    |         C. stehlini Jánossy 1992 M02
    |    |--+--C. abdimii JT12
    |    |  `--+--C. episcopus JT12
    |    |     `--C. stormi JT12
    |    `--+--C. nigra (Linnaeus 1758) JT12, I92
    |       `--+--C. maguari JT12
    |          `--+--C. boyciana Swinhoe 1873 JT12, I92 [=C. ciconia boyciana I92]
    |             `--C. ciconia JT12
    `--+--Leptoptilos Lesson 1831 JT12, M02 [Leptoptilidae]
       |    |--L. crumeniferus Ma03
       |    |--L. dubius VR72
       |    |--L. falconeri VR72
       |    |--L. javanicus VR72
       |    |--L. pliocenicus Zubareva 1948 [=Leptoptilus (l. c.) pliocenicus] M02
       |    `--L. titan VR72
       `--+--+--Jabiru mycteria JT12
          |  `--Ephippiorhynchus JT12
          |       |--E. asiaticus Mo03
          |       |    |--E. a. asiaticus Mo03
          |       |    `--E. a. australis Mo03
          |       `--E. senegalensis FP64
          `--Mycteria Linnaeus 1758 JT12, B94 (see below for synonymy)
               |  i. s.: ‘Ibis’ cayennensis K08
               |         ‘Ibis’ cristata Sch66
               |         ‘Tantalus’ lacteus K08
               |         ‘Ibis’ religiosa Sch66
               |--M. americana JT12 [incl. *Tantalus loculalor B94]
               `--+--M. ibis JT12 [=Tantalus ibis B94, Ibis ibis B94, Pseudotantalus ibis B94; incl. *I. candidus B94]
                  `--+--M. cinerea JT12 [=Ibis cinerea B94, Pseudotantalus cinereus B94]
                     `--M. leucocephala JT12 [=Ibis leucocephalus B94, Pseudotantalus leucocephalus B94]

Ciconiidae incertae sedis:
  ‘Cygnus’ bilinicus Laube 1909 [=Aquilavus bilinicus] M02
  Palaeoephippiorhynchus VR72
  Ciconiopsis VR72
  Prociconia VR72
  Palaeopelargus VR72
  Pelargosteon Kretzoi 1962 M02
    `--*P. tothi Kretzoi 1962 M02
  Grallavis Cheneval 1984 M02
    `--*G. edwardsi (Lydekker 1891) [=Propelargus edwardsi] M02
  Anastomus Bonnaterre 1791 [Anastomidae] B94
    |--A. lamelligerus Ma03
    `--A. oscitans SU93
  Dissoura K08
    |--D. episcopus K08
    `--D. microscelis K08
  Xenorhynchus asiaticus (Latham 1790) [=Mycteria asiatica] WS48
    |--X. a. asiaticus WS48
    `--X. a. australis (Shaw 1800) [=Mycteria australis; incl. X. asiaticus rogersi Mathews 1912] WS48

Nomen nudum: Tantalus brecciensis Giebel 1847 [=*Tantaleus brecciensis] M02

Mycteria Linnaeus 1758 JT12, B94 [incl. Ibis Lacépède 1799 B94, Tantaleus Reichenbach 1852 (n. n.) M02, Tantalus Linné 1766 B94; Mycteriidae, Tantalidae]

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

Austin, O. L., Jr. 1961. Birds of the World: A survey of the twenty-seven orders and one hundred and fifty-five families. Paul Hamlyn: London.

[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.

[FP64] Fisher, J., & R. T. Peterson. 1964. The World of Birds: A comprehensive guide to general ornithology. Macdonald: London.

[I92] Iwahashi, J. (ed.) 1992. Reddo Deeta Animaruzu: a pictorial of Japanese fauna facing extinction. JICC: Tokyo.

[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, 15. Corrodentia, 4. Mallophaga. Almqvist & Wiksells Boktryckeri-A. B.: Uppsala.

[Ma03] Mayr, G. 2003. The phylogenetic affinities of the shoebill (Balaeniceps rex). Journal für Ornithologie 144: 157-175.

[M02] Mlíkovský, J. 2002. Cenozoic Birds of the World. Part 1: Europe. Ninox Press: Praha.

[Mo03] Morcombe, M. 2003. Field Guide to Australian Birds, 2^nd ed. Steve Parish Publishing.

[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.

[SU93] Sonobe, K., & S. Usui (eds.) 1993. A Field Guide to the Waterbirds of Asia. Wild Bird Society of Japan: Tokyo.

[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.