A widespread but uncommon species, it breeds in scattered locations across Europe (predominantly in Portugal and Spain, and central and eastern parts), and east across the Palearctic to the Pacific Ocean.

It feeds on amphibians, small fish and insects, generally wading slowly in shallow water stalking its prey.

The black stork is considered to be a species of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, but its actual status is uncertain.

It is also protected under the African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

[6] It was one of the many species originally described by Swedish zoologist Carl Linnaeus in the landmark 1758 10th edition of his Systema Naturae, where it was given the binomial name of Ardea nigra.

[11] However, genetic analysis via DNA–DNA hybridization and mitochondrial cytochrome b DNA by Beth Slikas in 1997 found that it was basal (an early offshoot) in the genus Ciconia.

[12][13] Fossil remains have been recovered from Miocene beds on Rusinga and Maboko Islands in Kenya, which are indistinguishable from the white and black storks.

[15] It bears some resemblance to Abdim's stork (C. abdimii), which can be distinguished by its much smaller build, predominantly green bill, legs and feet, and white rump and lower back.

[15][18] The plumage is black with a purplish green sheen, except for the white lower breast, belly, armpits, axillaries and undertail coverts.

[23] During the summer, the black stork is found from Eastern Asia (Siberia and northern China) west to Central Europe, reaching Estonia in the north, Poland, Lower Saxony and Bavaria in Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy and Greece in the south,[15] with an outlying population in the central-southwest region of the Iberian Peninsula (Extremadura and surrounding provinces of Spain, plus Portugal).

[25] Most of the black storks that summer in Europe migrate to Africa,[21] with those from western Germany and points west heading south via the Iberian Peninsula and the rest via Turkey and the Levant.

[26] Black storks summering in West Asia migrate to northern and northeastern India,[21] ranging mainly from Punjab south to Karnataka,[27] and Africa.

[20] The black stork does inhabit more agricultural areas in the Caspian lowlands, but even here it avoids close contact with people.

[15] Its wintering habitat in India comprises reservoirs or rivers with nearby scrub or forest, which provide trees that black storks can roost in at night.

[27] In southern Africa it is found in shallow water in rivers or lakes, or swamps, but is occasionally encountered on dry land.

[25] After disappearing from Belgium before the onset of the 20th century, it has returned to breed in the Belgian Ardennes, Luxembourg and Burgundy, France, by 2000.

[42] Displaying males produce a long series of wheezy raptor-like squealing calls rising in volume and then falling.

[45] In southern Africa, breeding takes place in the months between September and March, possibly to take advantage of abundant water prey rendered easier to catch as the rivers dry up and recede—from April and May in Zimbabwe, Botswana and northern South Africa, and as late as July further south.

[15] A 2003 field study in Estonia found that the black stork preferred oak (Quercus robur), European aspen (Populus tremula), and to a lesser extent Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), and ignored Norway spruce (Picea abies), in part due to the canopy structure of the trees.

[47] A 2004 field study of nesting sites in Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli National Park in north-eastern Greece found that it preferred the Calabrian pine (Pinus brutia), which had large side branches that allowed it to build the nest away from the trunk, as well as black pine (Pinus nigra) and to a lesser extent Turkey oak (Quercus cerris).

In southern Africa, the black stork may occupy the nests of other bird species such as hamerkop (Scopus umbretta) or Verreaux's eagle (Aquila verreauxi) and commonly reuses them in successive years.

[21] Black stork parents have been known to kill one of their fledglings, generally the weakest, in times of food shortage to reduce brood size and hence increase the chance of survival of the remaining nestlings.

[51] The black stork mainly eats fish,[1] including small cyprinids, pikes, roaches, eels, budds, perches, burbots, sticklebacks and muddy loaches (Misgurnus and Cobitis).

[52] It may feed on amphibians, small reptiles, crabs, mammals and birds, and invertebrates such as snails,[1] molluscs,[45][52] earthworms, and insects like water beetles and their larvae.

[21] The black stork wades patiently and slowly in shallow water, often alone or in a small group if food is plentiful.

The black stork also follows large mammals such as deer and livestock, presumably to eat the invertebrates and small animals flushed by their presence.

[27] More than 12 species of parasitic helminth have been recorded from black storks with Cathaemasia hians and Dicheilonema ciconiae reported to be the most dominant.

[27] Previously a regular winter visitor to the Mai Po Marshes, it is now seldom seen there, and appears to be in decline in China overall.

[1] It is protected by the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

[1] Hunters threaten the black stork in some countries of southern Europe and Asia,[1] such as Pakistan, and breeding populations may have been eliminated there.