| The white stork (Latin: Ciconia ciconia) is a large-sized wader bird of the stork family.
General characteristics:
It is the most famous member of the stork family. It is a white bird with black wing tip-ends, long neck, long thin red bill and long red-colored legs. When the feathers of the stork are in a folded state, it gives an impression that the entire rear portion of the body of the stork is black. Hence, from this it's Ukrainian name "Chernoguzov" (buziok) has been derived. Color-wise, females are indistinguishable from males but are slightly smaller in size. The height of white stork is 100-125 cm, wingspan 155-200 cm and the weight of an adult bird reaches up to 4 kg. The life expectancy of a white stork is on an average 20 years. Visually, the white stork looks like the Far Eastern stork, but lately, it is considered a separate species.
Distribution:
White stork inhabits all of Europe and Asia. In Europe, its range and natural habitat stretches from the north to the south of Sweden and the Leningrad region, on east up to Smolensk, Bryansk and Lipetsk and in recent years, the area of natural habitat extended eastwards. It spends the winters in India and tropical Africa. Storks, living in southern Africa, are considered to be a settled population. Some white storks, living in Western Europe and in places, where the winters are relatively warm, do not migrate during winter. For wintering, white storks move in two routes. White storks, inhabiting the west of the River Elbe cross the Strait of Gibraltar and remain in Africa between the Sahara and the tropical rainforests for wintering. White storks, inhabiting the east of the River Elbe, fly through Asia Minor and Israel and remain in East Africa between the Southern Sudan and South Africa for wintering. Some white storks settle down in Ethiopia and South Arabia. On all the wintering places, white storks gather in thousands of flocks. Sometimes, young birds remain in Africa during the entire summer period. White storks accomplish transmigration for wintering during day time. They fly at high altitudes often sailing. For this, they choose the most convenient location in an aerodynamic regard. White storks avoid flying over sea.
Life style:
White storks are the inhabitants of low-lying meadows and marshlands and quite often build nests near human settlements.
Food:
The main food of these birds is small vertebrates and various invertebrates. The favorite food of white storks inhabiting Europe, are frogs, toads, snakes, vipers, large grasshoppers and locusts. White storks also feed on earthworms, May bugs, mole crickets, sick or dead small fish, lizards, small mammals (mostly mice, rats, moles, leverets, ground squirrels) and small birds on rare occasions. Searching for food, storks walk slowly and calmly but seeing the prey, it quickly runs up and grabs it. Parents bring water in their bills for young birds and the young storks open their bills and parents pour water from their bills and a water flow takes place as if transferring water from one vessel into another.
Reproduction:
Originally, storks made their nests in trees, making a huge nest amongst branches but in close proximity with human habitation. Subsequently, they started using the roofs of homes and other buildings including those, set up by humans for this purpose. Presently, white storks set up their nests on high-voltage electrical poles and on factory chimneys. One nest is enough for a white storks for several years. The older the nest, the bigger it is in diameter and some white stork nests weigh a lot; not only white storks but also various other small birds such as sparrows, wagtails and starlings usually live in such huge nests. Often, young white storks inherit the nest after the death of their parents. The oldest nest of a white stork is the nest which was built on the tower in the eastern part of Germany, which served as the nest for the birds from 1549 to 1930.
Males reach the nesting place several days before the arrival of females, sometimes flying at speeds of 200 kilometers per day. In Russia, white storks arrive at the end of March or in the beginning of April. The male stork assumes the first female, which appeared near the nest, to be wife. However, if two female storks appear at the same time, then a fight ensues between the two, fighting for their right to be a mother and the male stork does not participate. The winner female stork remains and the male invites it into the nest by throwing back its head back towards the spine and makes frequent chattering sounds with bill. For more resonance, the male stork moves its tongue to the throat. Exactly the same sounds are made by the male if another male white stork approaches the nest but the posture is different: the body and neck are stretched horizontally and the feathers are lifted up and dropped down. Often this takes place, when the young male storks, which are lenient to build their own nest, try to encroach on the nest of an older white stork. If the enemy does not listen to threats, then the owner of nest throws itself onto the enemy and hits it with bill. |
