Wildlife Garden DecoBird White Stork 21.3 cm hand-carved & hand-painted

At a glance

• Hand-carved and hand-painted white stork
• Model: White stork (Ciconia ciconia)
• Unmistakable silhouette with a long beak and long legs
• Characteristic white-and-black plumage
• Bright red legs and red beak
• Hand-painted with water-based paint
• Dimensions: 16.0 × 6.5 × 21.3 cm
• Weight: approx. 137 g
• For indoor use
• Includes a booklet with information about the bird species

Product details

• Brand: Wildlife Garden
• Series: DecoBird
• Bird species: White stork
• Scientific name: Ciconia ciconia
• Item number: WG469
• EAN: 7350054763844
• Material: Hand-carved wood
• Paint: Water-based paint
• Length: 16.0 cm
• Width: 6.5 cm
• Height: 21.3 cm
• Weight: approx. 137 g
• Usage: Indoor
• Packaging: Closed cardboard box
• Other: Booklet with information about the bird species

Almost everyone recognizes a white stork immediately

There are bird species that require a sharp eye to identify – and then there is the white stork. The long red beak, long red legs, and predominantly white plumage with black wing patches create a silhouette that is hard to confuse with any other native bird.

Wildlife Garden has captured these very characteristic proportions in its hand-carved DecoBird.

The white stork – Ciconia ciconia

The white stork is one of Europe's best-known large birds. With its long legs, it is perfectly built to walk slowly through meadows, wetlands, and shallow water in search of food.

Its long beak serves as an effective tool. Its diet includes insects, earthworms, amphibians, and small vertebrates, among other things.

White, black, and red – this bird needs nothing more

At first glance, the coloration of the white stork appears exceptionally clear: a white body, black or dark gray wing patches, and red legs and a red beak in adult birds.

It is precisely these few, clearly separated colors that make it so unmistakable. Consequently, Wildlife Garden does not need to use a particularly complicated palette for the white stork – what matters are the correct proportions and the clean separation of the characteristic plumage areas.

The stork on the roof

Hardly any other bird is as closely connected to human stories and imagination as the stork.

For centuries, a stork's nest on a house was considered a good omen. In its description, Wildlife Garden recalls the old folk belief that a stork's nest on the roof could even protect the house from fire.

And, of course, almost every child knows the most famous story of all: the stork brings the babies.

Why it is the stork that brings the babies

The connection between storks and offspring is deeply rooted in European storytelling tradition. The large bird returns from its wintering grounds in the spring – exactly the time of year that has always been associated with new life.

Over generations, a conspicuous migratory bird thus became a symbol of luck and family.

A large migratory bird

The white stork is a migratory bird. Many European animals leave their breeding grounds in late summer and head for warmer regions.

Its large, broad wings allow it to utilize rising warm air and cover long distances by soaring to save energy.

When the storks return in the spring, their arrival is still perceived in many places as a clear sign of the changing seasons.

21.3 cm high – but only 137 grams in weight

The DecoBird white stork measures 16.0 × 6.5 × 21.3 cm and weighs about 137 g.

This is an interesting contrast. At over 21 cm tall, the figure is visually one of the larger DecoBirds, but at 137 g, it is significantly lighter than, for example, the large falcons or owls.

This is exactly why the weight belongs in the product description: the height specification alone would convey a different sense of the figure when buying online.

Hand-carved and hand-painted

Wildlife Garden has the white stork carved by hand from wood and then painted with water-based colors.

With this bird, its proportions are particularly crucial. The long beak, long legs, and relatively slender body must match so that the wooden figure is clearly a white stork.

Due to the artisanal production and the natural material, slight differences in wood grain, carving, and painting may occur. These are part of the individual character of each figure.

For indoor use

Following the current direction of the DecoBird series, the hand-carved white stork is intended as a decorative figure for indoor use.

With a height of 21.3 cm, it has enough presence to stand alone on a dresser, sideboard, larger shelf, or desk.

With information about the bird species

Included with the DecoBird is a booklet with information about the white stork. The figure is delivered in a closed cardboard box.

In doing so, Wildlife Garden combines its artisanal depiction with information about the real bird that served as the model for this model.

My assessment

For me, the white stork is a DecoBird for which Wildlife Garden doesn't really need to explain much. Almost everyone knows the silhouette: long red beak, long red legs, and the white-and-black body – that’s the stork.

I find the ratio of size to weight interesting this time. At 21.3 cm, the figure looks quite large, but only weighs 137 g. This shows once again why I don't want to leave out the weight in our product descriptions.

And of course, the white stork brings something with it that many other DecoBirds do not: almost everyone associates it with some story. A stork's nest on the roof, returning in the spring, or the stork that brings the babies – this bird has long been not just a bird species, but also a piece of European cultural history.