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Migratory returns
White stork young are natural-born travelers. After fledging, they embark on an incredible migration, with many of our birds making it all the way to Morocco. While they typically remain loyal to their birthplace, they don’t return to breed until they reach around three, sometimes four years old. In the meantime, they explore Europe and North Africa, moving north and south with the seasons.
When the first UK wild stork chicks hatched in 2020, we knew it would be a few years before any migrating birds made their way back to Knepp. That’s why 2024 marked an exciting milestone with our first confirmed return of a wild chick born at Knepp in 2021, GB6N.
He was first spotted in Kenitra, Morocco, in 2022, then in Spain in 2023, before making his way back to Knepp in 2024 to breed. This remarkable stork successfully raised three chicks, all of whom are on their own migratory journeys. His return marks the first fully documented migration cycle of the project, demonstrating that the colony of wild white storks are successfully adopting natural migratory behaviours.
As the years pass, we hope to see more of our birds completing this cycle, strengthening the UK’s growing population of white storks. So far this year, thanks to our dedicated team of volunteers who spend countless hours monitoring the storks and reviewing camera trap footage, we’ve confirmed that at least five storks have now returned to Knepp after spending their formative years roaming Europe.
Each returning bird is a step toward establishing a thriving population of white storks in Britain. Thanks to sighting reports from across the continent, our understanding of their movements and habitat preference grows with every migration. Read below for the recorded journeys of the storks that have returned in 2025 so far.
GB7T
GB7T is a male from Cotswold Wildlife Park (CWP), released in 2021 at Knepp. He spent the summer here until he left with many of our other storks in September, in the year of his release. In 2023, we received sighting reports of GB7T on the same landfill as GB2X, South of Madrid in Spain. In April, 2024, we received another sighting report of this stork in Belgium (photo above). This time, he was seen at Zwin Nature Park, which is often described as an “international airport for birds”. It is likely that he was taking advantage of the food provided by the tidal inlet and neighbouring wetlands there. This year, we confirmed his return to Knepp on 19th March.
GB2X
GB2X is a female born at CWP, as part of the captive bred population that was released at Knepp in 2022. She was spotted leaving the UK at Sandwich Bay in Kent in September that year. We have no sightings from abroad until 2024 where she was seen South of Madrid in Spain on a landfill site (photo left) where many migratory storks forage. This year we confirmed her return to Knepp on 6th March, where she has since been recorded on a nest with a male.
GB4U
GB4U is a male who was born in the wild at Knepp in 2022 and he left in August of that year, marking the start of his migration. We have no sightings confirmed of this bird from across Europe until September 2024, where he was recorded in Pas-de-Calais, France at Etaples Nature Reserve. Seen foraging here, it seems that this was a vital energy boost as he made his way back north towards Knepp to breed. We spotted this bird on 20th March this year and since he has returned has been reported actively nest building, along with GB7Y. So, we will continue to monitor its development throughout the breeding season.
GB7Y
GB7Y is a male CWP bird that was released at Knepp in 2022, where he was last seen in August that year. We have no confirmation of sightings across the continent until he was seen in January 2024 on the same landfill site south of Madrid as many of our other birds. Therefore, this is likely an extremely valuable food source for many of our birds on their migratory journeys. This year, we confirmed GB7Y had made it back to Knepp on 20th March (photo below). Since his return, he has been seen interacting with the colony at Knepp and even building the beginnings of a new nest.
GB5Y
GB5Y is a male born at Cotswold Wildlife Park and released at Knepp in 2022, where he was last seen in September that year. In 2023 we have a confirmed sighting from our friend in Morocco, Mustapha Abidi, who has reported many of our project birds over the years. The sighting came from a landfill he visits in Kenitra. Beyond 2023 there were no sightings from abroad until he was confirmed to have returned to Knepp on 13th March, where he was spotted on the live camera nest.
Learning more about Migration
Migration is a treacherous journey, and in some cases as low as 10% of birds may survive. Causes of death can be due to collision, being blown off course, lack of food or in some areas, hunting.
As we piece together the stories of their migration, it can be challenging to hear that storks from our migrating colony at Knepp are often reported at landfills. However, this is not unique to our birds, this behaviour has become increasingly common across Europe.
There are risks involved with feeding at these sites, with many hazardous materials, but this is often a necessary and important stop along their route. Migration demands vast amounts of energy, and food availability largely dictates where these birds choose to rest and refuel. Unfortunately, the wetland and pasture habitats that storks traditionally rely on are in decline across their migratory range. Therefore, the material available at landfills provides a vital, if imperfect, food source that may be essential for their survival.
Celebrating Migratory Success
It is important to celebrate our reunion with these amazing birds that have travelled thousands of miles, and each returning stork is a testament the resilience and adaptability of the species. We are thrilled that we are beginning to see more of our storks back at Knepp and we hope to see them successfully breed this year. Based on our growing breeding success in recent years, we hope the number of returning storks will continue to rise in the upcoming years.
To learn more about where our satellite tagged storks are travelling, check out the flight map on the website, here: Interactive Flight Map | White Stork Project
A huge thanks to everyone who has contributed to our growing understanding of stork migration, including our volunteers and everyone who has submitted a sighting report.