To kill a stork will cause one to have bad luck. The arrival of clean, white storks in the spring heralds a good summer but dirty storks are portents of a bad year. Storks, hurriedly abandoning their nests, are omens of great misfortune, pestilence, and war. Because they are rumored to feed their elderly parents, storks are a symbol of filial piety or gratitude. They are emblems of immortality and longevity.
Legend says they live an incredibly long time.
When they are 600 years old they stop eating solid food and at 2000 years of age they turn black and keep on living. Storks were sacred to Juno or Hera in Greco-Roman mythology and symbolized the nourishing aspect of womanhood. These stork-winged women have been interpreted as being either heavenly angels or representations of Assyria and Babylon who carried Israel into captivity. The Psalmist made this bird's home in the firs a symbol of the Lord's providence. Aristotle taught that the jealous male bird would put an unfaithful mate to death for her transgressions.