White storks make remarkable annual migrations between Europe and sub-Saharan Africa. Electrocution, power line collisions, and habitat loss pose welfare and conservation threats along their routes.
White stork welfare is threatened along every stage of their migratory cycle. Electrocution on unmodified power lines causes sudden death or severe burns to wings and feet; injured storks that survive electrocution require intensive veterinary care and often cannot return to the wild. Plastic and other landfill waste ingestion causes intestinal obstruction and toxicity. Along the migration route, habitat quality determines whether storks can rest and refuel adequately; intensively managed agricultural landscapes with few invertebrates offer poor foraging opportunities, causing energy deficits in migrating birds. Power line modification programs in Spain and Portugal have substantially reduced electrocution mortality; scaling these programs across the stork range is the most immediate welfare intervention available.