Where do white storks spend winter?

The white stork is a long-distance migrant. It spends summer in Europe, North Africa or Middle East, and migrates southwards past Sahara for winter, reaching as far south as South Africa. When migrating between Europe and Africa, it avoids crossing the Mediterranean Sea and detours via the Levant in the east or the Strait of Gibraltar in the west, because the air thermals on which it depends do not form over water.