In addition, fossils suggest that Ciconia storks were somewhat more common in the tropical Americas in prehistoric times.

The members of this genus are more variable in plumage than other stork genera, but all species are black (at least to the wings) and white (at least underparts or neck).

These storks feed on frogs, insects, fish, crustaceans, small birds, lizards and rodents.

Since thermals only form over land, these storks, like large raptors, must cross the Mediterranean at the narrowest points, and many of these birds can be seen going through the Straits of Gibraltar and the Bosphorus on migration.

Although the known material tends to suggest that the genus evolved around the Atlantic, possibly in western Europe or Africa, the comparative lack of fossil sites in Asia makes this assumption not well-founded presently.