<P> According to European folklore , the stork is responsible for bringing babies to new parents . The legend is very ancient , but was popularised by a 19th - century Hans Christian Andersen story called The Storks . German folklore held that storks found babies in caves or marshes and brought them to households in a basket on their backs or held in their beaks . These caves contained adebarsteine or `` stork stones '' . The babies would then be given to the mother or dropped down the chimney . Households would notify when they wanted children by placing sweets for the stork on the window sill . From there the folklore has spread around the world to the Philippines and countries in South America . Birthmarks on the back of the head of newborn baby , nevus flammeus nuchae , are sometimes referred to as stork - bite . </P>
what is the white stork a symbol for in western culture
bringing babies to new parents