White storks and cranes are large migratory birds whose welfare is affected by power line collisions, habitat loss, and changing agricultural practices across their vast range.
White stork populations have declined in many parts of their range despite recoveries in Spain. Power line electrocution and collision kills thousands of storks annually in breeding and wintering areas. Agricultural intensification reduces prey availability — frogs, insects, small mammals — on breeding grounds. Supplemental feeding programs have changed migration patterns in some European stork populations. Crane populations have recovered in many regions through protection and wetland management. Electrocution from pylons is preventable through retrofitting with insulating covers; some countries have made this mandatory.