STORK. (חֲסִידָה, H2884, [from root meaning constant, loyal, loving] stork all Eng. VSS). Earlier VSS had offered a range of trs. LXX has heron, pelican, hoopoe and “hasida,” but from KJV onward stork is the accepted tr. Three points in the contexts confirm this tr. (a) It is unclean (Lev 11:19). Storks feed in muddy places and at some seasons take mainly frogs. (b) It is migratory (Jer 8:7). (c) It is a very large bird, implied by Zechariah 5:9: “...like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the ephah.” Both white and black storks are regular birds of passage through Pal. and the scavenging marabou stork a rare straggler. In spring white storks fly from their winter haunts in Africa and SW Arabia to their nesting grounds in Europe and Asia, and provide spectacular sights. Flocks of many hundreds come through from the end of February into May. (See Bird Migration.) They once nested in Pal.: “The stork has her home in the fir trees” (Ps 104:17), but those that stay for the summer now are prob. yearlings. On the ground, standing well over three ft. tall, and in the air, with neck outstretched and red legs trailing, this black and white bird is unmistakable. Dropping down to rest, they quickly spread out over the fields and marshes to hunt for fish, frogs and insects. The black stork is smaller and darker; having wintered in S Africa the black storks come through in very small groups, following a different path northward.

Bibliography See Bird Migration.