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Οι '''πελαργοί''' είναι μεγάλα [[πουλί|πουλιά]] με μακρυά [[πόδι|πόδια]] και μακρύ [[λαιμός|λαιμό]], τα οποία ανήκουν στην οικογένεια των '''Ciconiidae'''. Ζουν στις θερμότερες περιοχές του πλανήτη και σε ξηρότερα κλίματα από άλλα παρόμοια πουλιά όπως οι [[ίβεις]]<!-- [[heron]]s, [[spoonbill]]s -->. Οι πελαργοί δεν μπορούν να κρώξουν γιατί δεν έχουν φωνητικό όργανο και παράγουν κρότους με το [[ράαμφος|ράμφος]] τους. Αρκετά είδη τους είναι [[αποδημητικά]]. Τρώνε συνήθως [[βάτρχος|βατράχους]], [[ψάρι|ψάρια]], [[έντομο|έντομα]], [[σκουλήκι|σκουλήκια]] και μικρά πουλιά ή θηλαστικά. Υπάρχουν 19 είδη πελαργών σε έξη γένη.
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Storks tend to use [[soaring]], gliding flight, which conserves energy. Soaring requires [[thermal]] air currents. [[Ottomar Anschütz]]'s famous [[1884]] [[albumen]] photographs of storks inspired the design of [[Otto Lilienthal]]'s experimental [[glider]]s of the late [[19th century]]. Storks are heavy with wide [[wingspan]]s, and the [[Marabou Stork]], with a wingspan of 3.2 m (10.5 feet), shares the distinction of "longest wingspan of any land bird" with the [[Andean Condor]].
Their [[nest]]s are often very large and may be used for many years. Some have been known to grow to over 2 m (6 feet) in diameter and about 3 m (10 feet) in depth. Storks were once thought to be [[monogamy|monogamous]], but this is only true to a limited extent. They may change mates after migrations, and migrate without them. They tend to be attached to nests as much as partners.
Storks' size, serial monogamy, and faithfulness to an established nesting site contribute to their prominence in mythology and culture.
==Etymology==
[[Image:Stork nest on power mast.jpg|thumb|204px|White Storks build large nests in high places.]]
The [[modern English]] word comes from [[Old English]] "storc", which is in turn related to "stark", probably in reference to the bird's stiff or rigid posture.
Originally from [[Proto Germanic]] ''*sturkaz'' (compare [[Old Norse]] ''storkr'',and [[Old High German]] ''storah'', all meaning '''stork'''). Nearly every Germanic language has a form of this proto language to indicate the stork; the Dutch exception, apparently originating in a [[euphemism]], may signify the presence of a deep-seated [[taboo]]: compare "[[bear]]".
{| class="wikitable"
! [[Language]]
! Word used for "Stork"
|-
| [[Danish language|Danish]]
| ''stork''
|-
| [[German language|German]]
| ''Storch''
|-
| [[Low Saxon]]
| ''Stork''
|-
| [[Dutch language|Dutch]]
| ''Ooievaar''*
|-
| [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]]
| ''stork''
|-
|-
| [[Swedish language|Swedish]]
| ''Stork''
|}
<small>* [[Dutch language|Dutch]] is an exception within the Germanic language group.</small>
[[Old Church Slavonic]] ''struku'', [[Slovenian language|Slovenian]] ''štorklja'', [[Russian language|Russian]] стерх (pronounced ''sterkh'', meaning [[Siberian Crane|Siberian White Crane]]), [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]] ''starkus'', [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]] ''eszterag'' (rarely used; commonly ''gólya'') and [[Albanian language|Albanian]] ''sterkjok'' are all Germanic loan-words.
Rarely the word's origin is linked to [[Greek language|Greek]] ''torgos'' meaning "vulture".
The fable that babies are brought by storks is mainly from [[Netherlands|Dutch]] and Northern [[Germany|German]] nursery stories, no doubt from the notion that storks nesting on one's roof meant good luck, often in the form of family happiness.
[[Image:zoo.stork.arp.500pix.jpg|thumb|right|204px|White Stork ''Ciconia ciconia'']]
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==Systematics==
'''FAMILY CICONIIDAE'''
*''[[Palaeoephippiorhynchus]]'' ([[fossil]]: Early Oligocene of Fayyum, Egypt)
*''[[Grallavis]]'' ([[fossil]]: Early Miocene of Saint-Gérand-le-Puy, France, and Djebel Zelten, Libya) - may be same as
*''[[Prociconia]]'' ([[fossil]]: Late Pleistocene of Brazil) - may belong to modern genus ''Jabiru'' or ''Ciconia''
*''[[Pelargosteon]]'' ([[fossil]]: Early Pleistocene of Romania)
*Ciconiidae gen. et sp. indet. - formerly ''Cygnus bilinicus'' ([[fossil]]: Early Miocene of Břešťany, Czechia)
*cf. ''Leptoptilos'' gen. et sp. indet. - formerly ''L. siwalicensis'' ([[fossil]]: Late Miocene? - Late Pliocene of Siwalik, India)
*Ciconiidae gen. et sp. indet. ([[fossil]]: Late Pleistocene of San Josecito Cavern, Mexico) - ''Ciconia'' or ''Mycteria'' (Steadman ''et al.'' 1994)
*Genus ''[[Mycteria]]''
**[[Milky Stork]] (''Mycteria cinerea'')
**[[Yellow-billed Stork]] (''Mycteria ibis'')
**[[Painted Stork]] ('' Mycteria leucocephala'')
**[[Wood Stork]] (''Mycteria americana'')
*Genus ''[[Anastomus]]''
**[[Asian Openbill Stork]], '' Anastomus oscitans ''
**[[African Openbill Stork]], '' Anastomus lamelligerus ''
*Genus ''[[Ciconia]]''
**[[Abdim's Stork]], '' Ciconia abdimii ''
**[[Woolly-necked Stork]], '' Ciconia episcopus ''
**[[Storm's Stork]], ''Ciconia stormi ''
**[[Maguari Stork]], '' Ciconia maguari ''
**[[Oriental White Stork]], '' Ciconia boyciana ''
**[[White Stork]] ''Ciconia ciconia''
**[[Black Stork]] ''Ciconia nigra''
*Genus ''[[Ephippiorhynchus]]''
**[[Black-necked Stork]], '' Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus ''
**[[Saddle-billed Stork]], '' Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis ''
*Genus ''[[Jabiru]]''
**[[Jabiru]] '' Jabiru mycteria''
*Genus ''[[Leptoptilos]]''
**[[Lesser Adjutant]], ''Leptoptilos javanicus''
**[[Greater Adjutant]], '' Leptoptilos dubius ''
**[[Marabou Stork]], ''Leptoptilos crumeniferus ''
Though some storks are highly threatened, no species or subspecies are known to have gone [[extinct]] in historic times. A ''Ciconia'' bone found in a [[rock shelter]] on [[Réunion]] was probably of a bird taken there as food by early settlers; no known account mentions the presence of storks on the [[Mascarenes]].
The fossil genus ''Ciconiopsis'' (Deseado Early Oligocene of Patagonia, Argentina) is usually tentatively assigned to this family. For more fossil storks, see the genus articles.
==Symbolism of storks==
The [[white stork]] is the symbol of [[The Hague]] in the [[Netherlands]] where about 25 percent of European storks breed. It is also a predominant symbol of the region of [[Alsace]] in eastern France.
In Western culture the White Stork is a symbol of [[childbirth]]. In [[Victorian Age|Victorian times]] the details of human reproduction were difficult to approach, especially in reply to a child's query of "Where did I come from?"; "The stork brought you to us" was the tactic used to avoid discussion of [[sexual intercourse|sex]]. This habit was derived from the once popular superstition that storks were the harbingers of happiness and prosperity.
The image of a stork bearing an infant wrapped in a [[sling]] held in its beak is common in [[popular culture]]. The small pink or reddish patches often found on a newborn child's eyelids, between the eyes, upper lip, and the nape of the neck, which are clusters of developing [[vein]]s that soon fade, are sometimes still called "stork bites".
[[Vlasic]] brand [[pickle]]s in [[North America]] use this child-bearing stork as a [[mascot]].
==Mythology of storks==
[[Image:CigüeñaenÁvila.jpg|thumb|204px|A White Stork in flight in Spain.]]
Most of these myths tend to refer to the White Stork.
*In [[Ancient Egypt]] the stork was associated with the human ''ba''; they had the same phonetic value. The ''ba'' was the unique individual character of each human being: a stork with a human head was an image of the ''ba''-soul, which unerringly migrates home each night, like the stork, to be reunited with the body during the Afterlife. [http://www.egyptologyonline.com/the_afterlife.htm]
*The motto "Birds of a feather flock together" is appended to [[Aesop]]'s [[fable]] of the farmer and the stork his net caught among the [[crane (bird)|crane]]s that were robbing his fields of grain. The stork vainly pleaded to be spared, being no crane.
*The [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] word for stork was equivalent to "kind mother", and the care of storks for their young, in their highly visible nests, made the stork a widespread [[emblem]] of parental care. It was widely noted in ancient natural history that a stork pair will be consumed with the nest in a fire, rather than fly and abandon it.
*In [[Greek mythology]], Gerana was an Æthiope, the enemy of [[Hera]], who changed her into a stork, a punishment Hera also inflicted on [[Antigone]], daughter of Laomedon of Troy ([[Ovid]], ''Metamorphoses'' 6.93). Stork-Gerana tried to abduct her child, Mopsus. This accounted, for the Greeks, for the mythic theme of the war between the pygmies and the storks. In popular Western culture, there is a common image of a stork bearing an infant wrapped in cloths held in its beak; the stork, rather than absconding with the child Mopsus, is pictured as ''delivering'' the infant, an image of [[childbirth]].
*The stork is alleged in folklore to be monogamous although in fact this monogamy is "serial monogamy", the bond lasting one season: see above. For Early [[Christianity|Christians]] the stork became an emblem of a highly respected "[[white marriage]]", that is, a [[chaste]] marriage. This symbolism endured to the seventeenth century, as in [[Henry Peacham]]'s emblem book ''Minerva Britanna'' (1612) (see link).
*Though "Stork" is rare as an [[English language|English]] surname, the [[Czech language|Czech]] surname "Čapek" means "little stork".
*For the [[China|Chinese]], the stork was able to snatch up a worthy man, like the flute-player [[Lan Caihe|Lan Ts'ai Ho]], and carry him to a blissful life.
*In Norse mythology, [[Hoenir]] gives to mankind the spirit gift, the ''óðr'' that includes will and memory and makes us human (see Rydberg link). Hoenir's epithets ''langifótr'' "long-leg" and ''aurkonungr'' "mire-king" identify him possibly as a kind of stork. Such a Stork King figures in northern European myths and fables. However, it is possible that there is confusion here between the White Stork and the more northerly-breeding [[Common Crane]], which superficially resembles a stork but is completely unrelated.
*In [[Bulgaria|Bulgarian]] folklore, the stork is a symbol of the coming spring (as this is the time when the birds return to nest in [[Bulgaria]] after their winter [[migration]]) and in certain regions of Bulgaria it plays a central role in the custom of [[Martenitsa]]: when the first stork is sighted it is time to take off the red-and-white Martenitsa tokens, for spring is truly come.
*A series of sightings of a mysterious [[pterodactyl]]-like creature in South Texas' [[Rio Grande Valley]] in the 1970s has been attributed to an errant [[jabiru]] that become lost during a migratory flight and wound up in an unfamiliar region, or an ''[[Ephippiorhynchus]]'' stork escaped from captivity (see [[Big Bird (cryptid)|Big Bird]]).
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{{μετάφραση}}
==Αναφορές==
* Steadman, David W.; Arroyo-Cabrales, Joaquin; Johnson, Eileen & Guzman, A. Fabiola (1994), "New Information on the Late Pleistocene Birds from San Josecito Cave, Nuevo Leon, Mexico" ''περιοδικό Condor'' '''96'''(3): 577-589. [http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/Condor/files/issues/v096n03/p0577-p0589.pdf Το κείμενο σε μορφή PDF]
==Εξωτερικοί σύνδεσμοι==
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