Which large white bird with black wing tips migrates from Europe to Africa?

The white stork is the large white bird with black wing tips that migrates from Europe to Africa. Its breeding range spans much of Europe, while many populations spend winter in sub-Saharan Africa.

White storks are long-distance soaring migrants. Instead of powering their way continuously with wingbeats, they use rising columns of warm air called thermals to gain height and then glide. Because strong thermals do not form reliably over open water, they usually avoid crossing the Mediterranean Sea directly.

European storks generally follow one of two major corridors: an eastern route across the Bosphorus and through the Levant and Nile Valley, or a western route via the Strait of Gibraltar. They commonly leave Europe in August and September and return in spring. Some flocks gather in Africa in groups numbering more than a thousand birds.

The black stork is a potential mix-up, but it is much darker and usually more solitary. Cranes and grey herons also migrate, yet neither matches the question’s distinctive mainly white plumage and black wing pattern. The familiar folklore image of storks delivering babies is unrelated to their real migration.