White stork: description with photo. Storks (lat. Сisonia) White stork migratory bird or not
There are many stories about the stork in human culture. Legends and beliefs are associated with this bird, poems and songs are composed about it. Since ancient times, it has been considered a symbol of family and fidelity. This amazingly graceful bird never ceases to amaze the imagination with its beauty and grace.
The most famous among storks is white. About him and will be discussed.
general characteristics
The stork bird has twelve species, the white of which is the most common. Its external features:
- white bird with black edging on wings;
- graceful elongated neck;
- thin beak;
- long red legs.
The bird has a proud gait. When the wings are folded, it looks like it is half black.
Males do not differ in color from females. You can distinguish them by size - females are smaller. By growth, the birds reach 125 cm, in a wingspan - 2 meters. The weight of an adult bird is no more than 4 kg. The life span of birds in nature is up to 20 years, less in captivity. The bird is considered a long-liver.
habitats
Where do storks live
The white stork settles throughout Europe and Asia. This is a fairly large area. In recent years, the range has shifted towards the east.
For the winter, the white stork flies to Africa or India. Populations living in Africa and Western Europe do not fly away for the winter, as winters in these areas are warm.
At the wintering grounds birds gather in numerous flocks, consisting of thousands of individuals. Young birds can stay in Africa for the entire winter hut. The flight takes place during daylight hours. They fly at a considerable height, while hovering. For this, areas that are comfortable in terms of aerodynamics are suitable for them. Birds avoid routes over the sea.
nests
Ornithologists have a special interest not in the habitat of the white stork, but in choosing a place for its nest. Back in the 19th century, an amazing feature of these birds was noticed - before building a nest, the stork watches people for a long time.
In connection with this feature, a belief was even born that if a stork's nest appeared in a village, it would bring prosperity and happiness to the inhabitants. Cases have been recorded when nests were found even on the roofs of multi-storey buildings. People, having discovered such a dwelling, are not upset, but, on the contrary, rejoice. Sometimes they even specially prepare sheds so that the bird can live on their roof.
Life in the wild
The white stork is in flight most of the time. And more often he uses energetically profitable way of flying - soaring. Having found suitable places for this, the stork can fly for many kilometers without flapping its wings. Birds fly 200-250 km per day.
During the flight, the bird may even take a nap. Scientists have drawn this conclusion from data on the weakening of the pulse and breathing of birds. At the same time, hearing becomes aggravated so that the bird can hear in which direction the flock is flying.
Birds fly in large flocks for the winter.. At this time, they switch to feeding on insects, preferring locusts. In Africa they are called "locust birds".
To observe storks, scientists use ringing. Recently, satellite surveillance has been used. This method involves the supply of birds with transmitters that broadcast signals to the satellite. Thanks to this method, scientists study the characteristics of the life of birds, what the stork eats, how it reproduces, and other interesting points.
Nutrition
What does a stork eat in nature
The white stork feeds on small vertebrates and invertebrates. They feast on frogs, vipers, grasshoppers, eat beetles, earthworms, small fish, lizards. The movements of birds when searching for food are unhurried. But as soon as they notice the prey, they quickly run up to it and grab it. They carry water to their chicks with their beaks.
To search for food, the stork bypasses swamps and lowlands. The structure of his body quite allows him to do this. Legs with long toes give stability on unsteady wet ground. And the oblong beak allows you to get all sorts of goodies from the depths - mollusks, snails, frogs.
They can even pick up dead fish don't mind to enjoy also:
- moles;
- rats;
- small birds.
Of course, it is not so easy for them to catch moving animals.
The winged ones hunt in shallow water They do not like to go into deep water. They can feed on the ground, prefer freshly cut grass, where they catch small insects. In Africa, storks gather where people have burned the grass. In such places you can see hundreds of birds. They also fly to the fields and collect larvae there.
Storks can expect prey for a long time. For example, he can hide not far from the hole of a rodent and wait for it to stick out its nose. The time of such fading does not exceed several minutes.
In muddy water, the bird hunts "at random", not seeing its prey. She opens and closes her beak in the water until some tadpole comes across. The bird can catch food on the fly by capturing a dragonfly or other insects. In captivity, birds catch food, like dogs, on the fly.
Stork destroys dangerous insects: turtle bug, kuzku beetle, beet weevil. He helps farmers to eliminate the bear - this is a harmful insect that all farmers know about.
During the years of outbreaks of mice and rats, storks actively eat these rodents, providing significant assistance to humans.
One stork needs 700 grams of food per day. When feeding offspring, this volume increases greatly, and adults have to spend the whole day searching for food.
reproduction
The white stork is a monogamous bird. It creates a pair and a nest for breeding. Previously, nests were built only on trees near human dwellings. Birds built them from branches. Later they began to settle on the roofs of houses. Such a neighborhood does not upset people, but only pleases.
In recent years, storks have been building nests on factory chimneys and even on power lines. One nest is built for several years. Over the years, it has grown in size. It happens that after the death of adults, the nest passes to the offspring.
Storks begin to nest at the age of about six years. This is not surprising, because a bird lives for 20 years.
The males are the first to arrive at the nesting site.. In Russia, this is the beginning of April. First, the first female appears, then the second, a struggle flares up between them for the right to become a mother. Of course, no one wants to remain an old maid and live all his life alone. After all, only death can separate a pair of storks. The male does not interfere in the struggle of the females. He calls the winner to his nest, making special sounds. If another male flies up to the nest, the owner ruthlessly chases him away, striking with his beak.
The female brings from 2 to 5 eggs, less often from 1 to 7. Both parents incubate them. Usually during the day it is a male, and at night it is a female. The process takes 33 days. Little chicks have vision, but are completely helpless.
rearing chicks
Parents feed babies earthworms giving them out of his beak. Chicks catch worms on the fly or collect from the nest. Growing up, they pick up food from the beak of adults. Parents monitor the offspring, the sick and weak are thrown out of the nest. Chicks can also die due to lack of food.
After 55 days, the chicks begin to fly. Their first attempts are monitored by their parents, feeding them for another 18 days. Juveniles spend the night in parental nests and learn to fly during the day.
After 70 days, young people gain independence and fly away to spend the winter. Adults fly later - in September.
The white stork, meeting a couple, starts clicking its beak loudly. At the same time, the bird throws its head back to form a resonating space that amplifies sounds. This is how storks communicate.
In relation to relatives, the bird behaves aggressively. Weak individuals can even be beaten to death.
The number of storks in the western regions is rapidly declining. This is due to the decrease in the amount of food, an increase in the chemicalization of nature, leading to the death of birds and disruption of the reproductive regime. In Russia, the number of birds, on the contrary, is increasing.
Around the world there are about 150 thousand pairs of white storks, a third of them live in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.
Interesting legends associated with the bird. The stork has long been considered a protector from satanic forces. There is a legend explaining the origin of the bird. According to her, God, seeing the danger of snakes, decided to destroy them. He gathered all the reptiles in a sack and asked the man to throw the sack into the sea or into the mountains. But out of curiosity, the man opened the bag and freed the creepers. As a punishment, the Creator turned a man into a stork and forced him to collect snakes throughout his life.
There is also a fairy tale "Kalif-stork", where a man turned into this beautiful bird.
A small group of ankle-footed birds that gave the name to the entire Stork order. In fact, the genus of storks has become widely known thanks to one species - the white stork, while the rest of its representatives are little known. The closest to real storks are razini storks and beaked storks. In addition, family ties in these birds can be traced to marabou, saddle beaks and yabiru.
Far Eastern or black-billed stork (Ciconia boyciana).
The appearance of these birds is easily recognizable due to the characteristic long legs, neck and beak. The beak of real storks is straight and not too massive, in razin storks it looks more powerful, and its flaps are slightly curved, so they never close tightly. Because of the ever-open beak, they were called gapes. The wings of these birds are wide and strong, the tail is relatively short, bluntly cut. The legs are feathered only in the upper part, the fingers are free and not connected by membranes. In the coloration of all types of storks, there is only white and black in different proportions. The color of the paws and beak is black or red. The size of all species is approximately the same, these birds weigh 3-5 kg. Males and females are outwardly indistinguishable from each other.
African razin stork (Anastomus lamelligerus).
Storks live in the Old World, they reach the greatest diversity and abundance in the tropics and subtropics of Africa and Asia. The only species found in South America is the American stork. All southern species are sedentary and live in pairs or small groups consisting of several pairs nesting in the neighborhood. White, black and Far Eastern storks live in the temperate zone of Europe and Asia and are migratory. The white stork winters in Africa, the black stork in Africa and India, and the Far Eastern stork in China. Birds arrive at nesting sites in March-April, at first they stay in small flocks, and then break into pairs. Throughout the nesting period, nepotism persists, however, in feeding places, storks calmly endure the neighborhood of their own kind. By autumn, they gather in small flocks of 10-25 individuals, and in late August-early October they fly south. On wintering grounds, they form mass concentrations, here their flocks can number up to a thousand individuals.
The American stork (Ciconia maguari) has a bluish beak.
The flight of storks is moderately fast with strong wing beats. Although these birds feel confident in the air, they try to avoid unnecessary energy costs. During a long flight, they often switch to gliding with outstretched wings, and storks also try to avoid places with strong air currents, in particular, they never fly over the sea.
The nature of these birds is calm and friendly. They not only do not sort things out with each other, but also put up with other waterfowl and near-water birds (herons, for example). Almost all species of storks are voiceless, the means of communication for them is the loud clicking of their beak. The only sound-producing species is the black stork. His voice sounds like a quiet "chi-ling". Interestingly, the chicks of all species of storks are able to scream, their voices resemble a rough bass or a cat's meow.
The white-bellied stork (Ciconia abdimii) is the shortest-legged and short-billed species.
The habitats of storks are somehow connected with water. In most cases, birds prefer to nest in trees close to the shore. It happens that the nest itself is hidden in the thick of the forest, and birds fly to the reservoir only to feed. While searching for food, they roam in shallow water or at the water's edge. Storks never go deep into the water because they cannot swim. They also avoid dense thickets of reeds, impassable shrubs, but meadows with low grass are perfect for them.
Almost all species avoid proximity to humans and try to populate remote areas. The only exception to this rule is the white stork. He tolerates the neighborhood with people so well that he often settles on man-made structures. White stork nests can be seen on rooftops, bell towers, power poles, telegraph poles, water towers. If the design allows, then several pairs can arrange nests right next to each other.
A pair of black storks (Ciconia nigra) at the nest in the forest thicket. The plumage of these birds, like those of other dark-colored species, often casts green and purple.
Storks feed on a variety of small animals. Their diet consists of mollusks, worms, frogs, toads, small lizards and snakes, sometimes small fish. The method of hunting storks can be called active search. Unlike herons, they do not freeze in place in a fixed stance, but constantly walk along the feeding area. Seeing the prey, the stork sharply throws its neck forward, finishes it off with an energetic blow of the beak and immediately swallows it.
The black stork roams the shallow water in search of prey.
Storks are monogamous birds: the resulting pair remains faithful to each other throughout life. A bird can form a new pair only in the event of the death of the former partner.
Migratory species start nesting shortly after arrival. Stork nests are large piles of branches with a rammed tray in the middle. The construction of the nest is quite strong, so the birds try to occupy old nests, periodically updating them. Often, after the parents, the nest is "inherited" by one of their chicks. The record-breaking case of continuous nest exploitation is recorded in Germany, where birds used it from 1549 to 1930. Harmless freeloaders - sparrows and similar small birds often settle in the bulky nests of storks.
The mating ritual of Far Eastern storks - male and female, throwing their heads back, click their beaks.
In the clutch of these birds, there are from 2 to 5 white eggs. Incubation begins after the laying of the first or second egg, so the entire brood hatches over several days. The incubation period lasts 33-34 days, both parents participate in incubation. Stork chicks hatch covered in light gray down and grow quickly. Parents take turns bringing them food and water in their beaks. Breeding success largely depends on forage conditions; in low-feed years, younger chicks often die, which get less food. The first month and a half the chicks spend in the nest, then they fledge and begin to travel along the branches of the tree, and then wander around with their parents.
White storks (Ciconia ciconia) at the nest with chicks.
In nature, storks do not have so many enemies: their relatively large size protects them from attack by birds of prey, and nesting in trees from land-based predators.
In the past, these meek and faithful birds enjoyed universal love. Storks personified happiness and family well-being. According to legend, the nest of storks on the roof of the house meant prosperity and peace, and the birds themselves were the messengers of motherhood. Nevertheless, now the number of species living in the temperate zone is constantly declining. This is due to the reduction of natural habitats (drainage of swamps, pollution of water bodies), a disturbance factor. In the white stork, cases of death of chicks and adult birds on power lines are not uncommon. The Far Eastern stork, listed in the International Red Book, is extremely rare, the number of black storks avoiding the neighborhood with humans is small (it is also listed in the national Red Books), and even the white stork is reducing its range. To protect these birds, it is enough just to provide them with fodder lands (ponds, meadows) and attract them with convenient nesting sites.
A small colony of white storks on an old bell tower.
Storks are a genus of birds in the stork family, order Storks. These birds are easily recognizable, they are distinguished by long legs, a long neck, a rather massive body and a long beak. These birds are the owners of large and powerful wings, they are wide and allow storks to easily rise into the air.
The legs of these birds are only partially feathered, the fingers on the limbs do not have membranes. The size of storks is quite large: the weight of an adult bird is from three to five kilograms. At the same time, females and males do not differ in size, and indeed there is no sexual dimorphism in these birds.
The plumage of storks contains black and white colors, in different quantities, depending on the species.
The most famous types of storks:
- White-necked stork (Ciconia episcopus)
- (Ciconia nigra)
- Black-billed stork (Ciconia boyciana)
- White-bellied stork (Ciconia abdimii)
- (Ciconia ciconia)
- Malayan woolly-necked stork (Ciconia stormi)
- American stork (Ciconia maguari)
Where do storks live?
Birds from the genus of storks live in Europe, Africa, Asia, in addition, storks and South America inhabit.
Southern species are sedentary, northern storks make seasonal migrations. These birds live in pairs or not very large groups. Before flying to warmer climes, storks gather in small groups of 10-25 individuals.
All types of storks are dependent on water bodies, so they try to settle near water. But some still arrange nests in the thick of the forest, flying to the reservoir only to search for food.
Listen to the voice of the stork
What does a stork eat?
The menu of storks is made up of small animals: worms, mollusks, frogs, lizards and fish. Storks look out for their food in shallow water, now and then walking in different directions. If the stork notices prey, then it sharply stretches its long neck forward and pierces the victim with all its might with its sharp beak. The bird then quickly swallows its "lunch".
About the reproduction of storks in nature
These birds are monogamous, i.e., once choosing a partner, they remain paired only with him. A new partner can appear only in the event of the death of the previous one. Storks build their nests from a huge number of branches. In the middle of the nest, something like a rammed tray is arranged. The "house" of the stork is a fairly solid structure that can withstand several individuals of these large birds. It often happens that after the death of the parents, one of the chicks inherits the family nest.
The female stork during the breeding season lays 2 - 5 eggs, the incubation period lasts for 34 days. Both parents incubate the future offspring, when one acts as a hen, the second brings him food.
Enemies of storks in nature
Storks are large birds, so they have no ill-wishers in nature. They build their nests high, so that ground hunters cannot reach them, and their impressive size and sharp beak protect storks from attacks from feathered predators from the air.
Signs associated with storks
According to ancient beliefs, if a family of storks has built a nest on the roof or near the house, then peace, tranquility and prosperity await the owners. People themselves have always associated storks with an addition to the family; it is not for nothing that people say “the stork brought” about a newborn or future child. These majestic birds have always evoked a feeling of admiration and reverence among people, it was before, and is observed even in our time.
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In view of the fact that for the second year near my house storks have been nesting on the concrete support of the power line, I decided to replenish my knowledge about these birds. And I learned so many interesting facts that I decided to put them in a magazine. Basically, it concerns the white stork.
So:
Since ancient times, the stork was considered a sacred bird; in ancient mythology, storks (according to another version, cranes) were harnessed to the chariot of Mercury. In the beliefs of the ancient Chinese, he figuratively denoted a happy old age. And in many European traditions, the stork is a symbol of caring for elderly parents, since it was believed that adult storks feed old relatives who are not able to get food on their own.
In the Christian tradition, the stork symbolizes goodness, light and faith, as it actively destroys snakes, which Christianity considered a symbol of sins and the devil.
There is a widespread legend that the stork brings children and a good harvest. It is for this reason that storks were revered in the countryside, and still in the villages they try to protect these birds from all troubles. Since ancient times, peasants have been fixing old cart wheels on the roofs so that the stork can make a nest. If, for some reason, storks left nesting on the house, it was believed that this was a punishment for sins and all sorts of troubles and misfortunes would fall upon the inhabitants of the abandoned house.
But on the African continent, where storks mostly winter, they are hunted. 80 percent of the death of these birds is shooting. Stork meat is used by Africans for food, the head and legs are used in witchcraft rites, and feathers are used for jewelry.
The inhabitants of the Far East did not lag behind the Africans. This led to the fact that the last Far Eastern stork nesting in Korea was killed in 1971. The only exception in the East was Japan, where stork hunting has always been banned.
In enlightened Europe, too, storks were not always treated favorably. In the 17th century, the stork was completely destroyed in Italy, Germany and Austria-Hungary did not lag behind, where at the beginning of the 20th century awards were given for shot birds.
The worst was the black stork, hunting for which was prohibited only in 1960. Greedy little people believed that he was eating them, destroying fish stocks.
The image of a stork was widely used in heraldry and symbolism. The stork, which is on the coats of arms, denotes vigilance and foresight, as it sleeps on one leg and is always ready to wake up and begin active actions. In the modern world, the stork is one of the unofficial symbols of Belarus. The stork is also used in the symbolism of Germany, and for the Japanese prefecture of Hyogo, the stork has become the official symbol.
The stork is a very large bird. The white stork (Ciconia ciconia) has a height of 100-125 cm and a wingspan of up to two meters. The weight of large individuals of this species reaches 4 kg.
The population of storks, living in a temperate climate, moves south to Africa during the cold season. And this is about 10,000 km. Birds have acquired a number of features for this. The wide powerful wings of storks are capable of making up to two strokes per second, which allows them to reach a speed of 45 km. at one o'clock. They actively use ascending air currents for climbing and gliding. Storks during the flight for 10-15 minutes can switch to rest mode. In this state, the bird's heart rate drops to the same level as during sleep. (The pulse of storks during wakefulness is 270 beats per minute). Thanks to all these devices, storks are able to fly up to 200 km per day.
The stork sleeps standing on one leg. At the same time, the bird periodically, without waking up, completely reflexively changes its tired leg.
The back toe of the stork is not developed, and there is a membrane between the front toes. It helps the bird to move through swampy areas and shallow water with a silty bottom.
The long strong beak of the stork is perfectly adapted for obtaining food - small fish, amphibians, reptiles and large insects.
The white stork does not make loud sounds, this is caused by the underdevelopment of the vocal cords. Of course, they are quite capable of giving out a weak squeak or hiss, but they use a different method as communication. Wanting to attract a female or drive away an opponent from the nest, the male white stork makes loud noises by clicking its beak. At the same time, the position of the body in each of these cases is different, which allows you to create a sound of different tonality. Females and even chicks of the white stork also use this method of communication, but chicks with a soft beak do not get a loud click.
According to different sources, the life expectancy of storks is very different. On the one hand, many authors claim that storks live up to 20 years, on the other hand, up to 70 years.
White and black storks are not picky about food. But they also have their own predilections. The most predatory is the white stork, which gladly eats small mammals (including gophers and hares), and on occasion catches small birds and destroys nests with chicks. There have been cases when a stork attacked a weasel or even an ermine.
In addition to mammals and birds, the diet of the white stork includes amphibians, reptiles and mollusks. The bird of prey eats even poisonous snakes such as the viper. White storks do not disdain insects, especially in the spring. At this time, the favorite food of birds is earthworms, leaf wasp larvae, bears and May beetles. The white stork also willingly eats locusts. True, most of the locusts are eaten by them during the winter in Africa.
White and black storks arrive at the nesting sites in late March - early April. Moreover, males are several days ahead of females.
Storks reach marriageable age by the age of three. The female differs from the male only in size.
Storks prefer to use the same nest year after year. The oldest nest of a white stork is considered to be a nest built in 1549 on one of the towers in East Germany. It was used until 1930.
Returning to the old nest, the male immediately begins to build and renovate it. Often, old nests reach enormous sizes and weights of several hundred kilograms. Not only storks themselves, but also small birds settle in such “apartments”.
The male white stork that occupies the nest vigilantly guards it from competitors. When approaching another male, he drives away the opponent, loudly clicking with his beak, and the sound of clicking and the posture of the male is fundamentally different from the behavior by which the female is called. If the opponent persists, then a fight may break out between the birds.
All storks are monogamous, but migratory species change partners. The male arriving at the nest waits for the first female to respond to his call. At the same time, it does not matter whether his last year's girlfriend is still alive. Often, a clash occurs between a late last year female and a new one that managed to occupy the nest before her, and the male stork does not interfere in the conflict in any way. The winner stays with him.
The stork has about 3-5 eggs in its clutch. Incubation occurs on average for about a month. Their chicks are born helpless, although covered with down. After that, for about another two months, the parents take care of the chicks. Moreover, parents not only feed the chicks, but also give them water, and on a hot day they pour water over them to prevent overheating.
Trial flights begin at the age of two months, but for another 15-20 days the children live in the nest and the parents continue to take care of their grown chicks. Complete independence in migratory species of storks occurs at an age of slightly more than 70 days.
In the future, the chicks live separately from their parents. Their independence comes to the point that adolescent white and Far Eastern storks go for wintering a month earlier than adults. They may, at the age of one or two, may not return to their nesting sites at all and remain in their wintering grounds all year round.
It has been noticed that white storks often throw weak and sick chicks out of their nests. Moreover, if the fallen chick is planted back, history will repeat itself. Most likely, this is how storks fight against overspending of food and protect healthy chicks from parasitic and infectious diseases.
The migration routes of storks are currently well understood. Western European storks fly through France, Spain and Gibraltar to Algeria and Morocco and on to wintering grounds in West Africa, or rather, to Senegal and Nigeria. Storks of Eastern Europe - along the western coast of the Black Sea, over the Bosporus to Turkey and Syria, and further along the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea to the lower reaches of the Nile and through the countries of East Africa up to the southern part of the continent. They finally reach the wintering grounds by December, evenly distributed over the entire territory. The flight pattern is laid down genetically. If storks from Eastern Europe are transported to Western Europe, they will still move by the eastern route, although it will be more protracted. But this will only happen if the relocated individuals do not come into contact with the local ones. Young birds from another region who have entered the flock of local storks will follow the routes suggested by older storks, and will soon master a new migration route.
Unlike cranes, storks do not form a geometrically correct V-shaped wedge and fly in a relatively free group following the leader. In flight, the bird stretches its neck forward, and the beak is slightly lowered down.
Storks have practically no natural enemies. Only large eagles and crocodiles can attack a powerful bird. Therefore, the main danger to the population of storks of different species is a person.
At present, only the white stork has achieved relative population stability. The rest of the species are under the threat of extinction, some because of their initially small numbers, and some because of the active influence of man. Black and Far Eastern storks suffered from human impact.
But even the white stork at the beginning of the 21st century had no more than 150,000 breeding pairs. Moreover, now there is a constant reduction in the number of birds nesting in the countries of Western and Central Europe. The main livestock is located in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.
In nature, large species of storks lead a solitary lifestyle, forming pairs during nesting. Nests are located at some distance from one another, and before the start of the mating season, males strictly monitor that competitors do not invade their living space.
Storks treat people differently. The white stork tries to settle closer to human habitation, preferring to place its nests on the roofs of village houses or old towers. The black stork, on the contrary, settles away from the person.
In home conditions, storks quickly get used to a person and easily make contact. It is better not to keep storks near pets of small sizes (rodents, and small birds), because birds may well try to eat other pets.
In relation to large poultry, storks behave calmly. Cases were mentioned when a stork living next to a person “grazed” and guarded his poultry, not allowing chickens to scatter around the yard.
Storks are not only beautiful and graceful, they are faithful helpers of man, destroying pests of agricultural plants. Certain species of storks, among other things, are sensitive indicators of the ecological situation. It has been noticed that if a stork lives and feeds on some reservoir, then the water there is clean. Now it depends only on the good will of people whether those times can return when storks lived in every village, delighting those around them with their beauty.
The stork is a family of large birds belonging to the stork order. The stork family includes 6 genera and 19 species. All members of the family are characterized by the presence of a long beak, tapering towards the end, a long neck and long legs. They don't have a goiter.
A small swimming membrane connects the three front fingers of storks. The hind toe of these birds is poorly developed. Storks are practically dumb birds. This is due to the fact that their vocal cords are reduced.
Usually, in representatives of the stork family, the wings are very wide, deeply dissected. Many species of storks make significant migrations every year, and in general storks are considered excellent flyers. These birds correctly use the air temperature in order to be able to save energy during the flight.
When in flight, storks stretch their necks forward. The most numerous populations of storks are in the countries of the tropical zone. Very often you can see storks in hot and temperate latitudes.
The most famous representative of the stork family is the white stork, whose life expectancy is approximately twenty years. Almost all white storks are migratory birds - for the winter they fly to India or Africa (there are two migration routes).
Storks are found on all continents. True, in North America their distribution is limited to the territory of the extreme south. In Australia, storks live only in the northeastern part of the mainland. Three species of these birds nest on the territory of the Russian Federation. Only two species of storks nest in the European part of Eurasia. These are the white stork and the black stork. Sometimes, as a rare guest in Europe, you can see representatives of the yellow-billed stork and African marabou species. As a rule, when choosing a habitat, storks prefer areas near water bodies, as well as open spaces.
The white stork is the most famous member of the stork family. The white stork has a white plumage, with the exception of the black tips of the wings. These birds are endowed with a long thin beak that has a red color, a long neck, and long legs, which are also characterized by a reddish tint. An interesting fact is that at the moment when the stork's wings are folded, a misleading impression may arise that almost the entire bird has a black color. By the way, it was from this feature that the Ukrainian name of this species of stork, the Chernoguz, came from. Males and females of the white stork have an almost identical color to each other. The difference lies in the size of the individuals - the females of the white stork are still slightly smaller than the males. The growth of these birds varies from one meter to one hundred and twenty-five centimeters, and the wingspan often reaches two meters. The mass of an adult white stork is approximately four kilograms. On average, the life expectancy of these birds is twenty years. In appearance, the white stork is very similar to the Far Eastern stork. However, recently the Far Eastern stork has been isolated as an independent species.
The distribution range of the white stork is quite wide. It can be found throughout European and Asian territory. The white stork winters in tropical Africa or India. Moreover, the population of storks that inhabited the southern regions of the African continent adheres to a sedentary lifestyle. Some storks living in Western Europe are also sedentary. These are areas that experience warmer winters. Migratory storks go for wintering along two routes. Individuals that nest west of the Elbe River use the following route: after crossing the Strait of Gibraltar, these birds remain to winter in Africa. This is an area between tropical rainforests and the Sahara Desert. Representatives of white storks that nest east of the Elbe River fly through Asia Minor and Palestine during migrations. Their wintering grounds are the territories of the African continent between South Africa and South Sudan. Some individuals winter in South Arabia (a very small number of white storks) and Ethiopia (slightly more birds stop here for the winter compared to South Arabia). No matter what specific territory we are talking about, white storks always gather in huge flocks during the winter, including thousands of birds. Young representatives of the species of white storks often stay in Africa not only for the winter, but also for the summer. Migrations of white storks associated with the flight to wintering grounds occur during the day. Moreover, birds fly at a fairly high altitude, avoid being above sea waters. When flying, you can often see soaring storks.
White storks migrate in small groups. Sometimes in whole flocks. These groups (or flocks) of storks form immediately before flying to the wintering grounds. This is the time immediately following the breeding and rearing of offspring. The start of departure falls at the end of summer or the first month of autumn. There are times when the departure of white storks for various reasons is delayed until October. As noted above, white storks fly at high altitude during the day. An interesting fact is that the speed of movement of white storks towards the south is two times less than the speed of movement of these birds towards their nesting in spring. Some individuals sometimes spend the winter season directly in their nesting area. This situation is observed, for example, in Denmark.
The diet of white storks consists mainly of small vertebrates. As well as various invertebrates. Storks living on European territory will always never give up vipers, snakes, frogs and toads. In addition, the favorite food of white storks are locusts and grasshoppers. The diet of these birds also includes earthworms, bears, May beetles, small mammals (mainly hares, ground squirrels, moles), lizards. Sometimes they eat small fish and very rarely small birds. When looking for food, white storks walk very gracefully and slowly. However, when they see potential prey, they grab it with lightning speed.
Storks use the same nest for several years. Previously, these birds chose trees as nesting sites. On them, storks built a huge nest with the help of branches. As a rule, the place of their nesting was in the immediate vicinity of human settlements. A little later, these birds began to equip their nests on the roofs of various buildings (including houses). Sometimes a person helped the stork in this regard, erecting these buildings especially for them. Recently, individuals of this species have successfully nested on factory pipes or high-voltage lines. An interesting fact is that the older the nest, the larger its diameter is. In addition, the weight of individual nests reaches several centners. This is such a huge nest that it becomes a place of life not only for the storks themselves, but also for a variety of small birds. The latter, for example, may include starlings, sparrows, wagtails. Quite often, the nest is "inherited" - after the death of the parents, the offspring take possession of it. The oldest nest, which was used by more than one generation of storks, is the nest built by these birds on one of the Germanic towers (in the eastern part of the country). It served the storks from 1549 to 1930.
Male white storks are the first to arrive at the nesting site. They are only a few days ahead of the females. There are times when males cover a distance of two hundred kilometers in one day. Storks return to our country in late March or early April. An interesting fact is that the male white stork considers his female to be the first to appear at the nest; but if, shortly after, another female flies to the nest, then both will compete for the right to become a mother. Moreover, the male takes absolutely no part in this fight. The female that has withstood the competition is invited by the male to the nest. At the same time, the male throws his head back on his back and makes clanking sounds with the help of his beak, and in order to create a greater resonance, he removes his tongue into the larynx. The male makes identical clattering sounds when another male approaches his nest. Only the pose is different. The white stork horizontally retracts its neck and body, while lowering and then raising its wings. Sometimes it happens that young storks fly to the nest of an old male. This is due to the fact that the first ones are simply too lazy to equip their own nest. Often there are fights between the owner of the nest and opponents who do not respond to preliminary threats. When the male's invitation is accepted, both birds, being in the nest, begin to click with their beaks and throw their heads back.
The female white stork lays two to five eggs. Less commonly, their number varies from one to seven. The eggs are white. Both the male and the female take part in the incubation of eggs - usually the roles are distributed as follows: the female incubates at night, and the male during the day. When changing the hen, there are always specific ritual postures. The duration of incubation of eggs is approximately thirty-three days. Only the chicks that have appeared are helpless, but they are sighted. At first, the diet of chicks consists mainly of earthworms. Parents throw them out of the throat, and the offspring either grabs the worms on the fly or collect them in the nest itself. As they mature, white stork chicks are able to snatch their food directly from the beak of their parents.
White stork chicks are closely monitored by adults. Adult birds often throw out all sick and weak chicks from the nest. Only on the fifty-fourth or fifty-fifth day after birth, young storks take off from the nest. However, this process takes place again under the supervision of parents. Even after takeoff, for another two or two and a half weeks, the chicks are fed by their parents, and the storks improve their flight skills. Storks become completely independent at the age of seventy days. An interesting fact is that young storks fly for wintering already without any leadership over them from adults. The path that storks set off at the end of August is shown to them by natural instinct. Adult individuals fly away for wintering a little later - in September. Storks become sexually mature at the age of three. Despite this, some individuals begin to nest only six years after birth.
The stork is a very revered bird in folk culture. Various mythopoetic traditions designate storks as deities, shamans, totemic ancestors, demiurges, etc. White storks are considered symbols of life and growth, sky and sun, wind and thunder, freedom and inspiration, top and prophecy, abundance and fertility.
The black stork is another member of the stork family. The black stork is included in the lists of the Red Book of Russia and Belarus. When flying, it is often in a soaring state. This feature is also observed in other storks. In the state of flight, black storks also throw back their legs and stretch their neck forward. The diet of black storks consists mainly of fish, invertebrates and small aquatic vertebrates. Thus, water meadows located in close proximity to water bodies, as well as shallow water, become feeding places for these birds. In addition, during the winter, the diet of black storks diversifies due to large insects, a little less often lizards and snakes, as well as small rodents.
The black stork is black in color. The plumage of black storks is mostly black, however, it has a copper-red or greenish tint. The ventral side of the body of this bird is white, and the throat, beak and head are bright red. In addition, the bright red color has an unfeathered spot on the bridle and near the eyes of the black stork.
The size of the black stork is somewhat smaller than the white stork. The wing length of a black stork is approximately fifty-four centimeters. The average weight of this bird is three kilograms.
Black storks tend to avoid people. The black stork is a very secretive bird. In view of this, when choosing a habitat, storks prefer old or dense forests, areas near water bodies. Thus, the black stork can be found near swamps, forest lakes and rivers. This species inhabits the forest zone of Eurasia. As for the territory of our country, representatives of this species live in the territory from the Baltic Sea to the Urals, as well as in the territory of Southern Siberia up to the Far East (the largest number of representatives of black storks nest in Primorye). A separate population of black storks inhabits the south of Russia. These are the forests of the Stavropol Territory, Dagestan, Chechnya. The wintering ground for black storks is South Asia. In addition, black storks can be seen in South Africa - a sedentary population of these birds lives here.
The black stork is a monogamous bird. Able to breed only three years after birth. The nest, as a rule, equips at a height of ten to twenty meters. It can be ledges of rocks or tall old trees. A prerequisite is that nesting sites should be located far from human habitation. The black stork nests once a year. There are cases when the nests of these birds are found high in the mountains. It can be a height reaching 2200 meters above sea level. When building a nest, black storks use twigs and thick tree branches. Between themselves, storks fasten them with the help of clay, turf and earth. By analogy with white storks, representatives of this species serve one nest for many years. The end of March - the beginning of April is marked by the arrival of black storks to the nesting place. The male, making a hoarse whistle and fluffing up his white undertail, invites the female to his nest; the female lays four to seven eggs. Both parents take part in incubation, which lasts about thirty days. Black stork chicks appear unevenly due to the fact that incubation begins with the first egg. The color of the born chicks is grayish or white. The base of the beak is orange and the tip of the beak is greenish yellow. For about ten days, the offspring only lies in the nest. Then the chicks begin to sit down, they can stand on their feet only at the age of thirty-five to forty days. The residence time of black stork chicks in the nest ranges from fifty-five to sixty-five days. Storks receive food from their parents four or five times a day.
Black storks do not form colonies. Often the nests of these birds are located at a distance of at least six kilometers from each other. The exception is the population of black storks nesting in the territory of Eastern Transcaucasia. Here the nests are located at a distance of only one kilometer. Sometimes you can even see two residential nests of black storks on the same tree.
The voice of a black stork can be heard extremely rarely. Like white storks, these birds are extremely reluctant to give voice. If this happens, then, as a rule, in flight, when black storks make a rather loud cry. It can be rendered as "chi-lin" or "che-le". Sometimes black storks talk quietly in the nest; during the mating season, representatives of this species emit a loud hiss; these birds also knock very rarely with their beaks. Chicks have a very unpleasant and rough voice.
Attempts have been made to cross white and black storks. In zoos, it has been observed more than once that a male black stork begins to court a female white stork, but it has not been possible to obtain hybrid chicks, which is largely due to significant differences in the mating rituals of the representatives of these two species.
The Far Eastern stork is a rare bird. The Far Eastern stork is a species related to the white stork. Currently, the population of this species has about three thousand individuals. The Far Eastern stork is listed in the Red Book of Russia.
The Far Eastern stork has much in common with the white stork. First of all, we are talking about the color of the plumage. In size, the Far Eastern stork is somewhat larger than the black stork. In addition, the Far Eastern stork is endowed with a more powerful beak; the legs of these birds have bright red color. Beak color is black. Another difference between the two species of storks is the color of the chicks' beaks - white stork chicks are endowed with a black beak, while Far Eastern stork chicks are reddish-orange.
The Far Eastern stork is found only in Russia. Practically it is. Indeed, almost the entire distribution area of this species falls on the territory of the Russian Federation. The name speaks for itself - these birds nest in the Far East. To be more precise, these are the territories of Primorye and the Amur Region. In addition, the Far Eastern stork is found in Mongolia, northeastern China and northern Korea. Far Eastern storks gather in flocks quite early and fly away for wintering (south and southeast of China).
Far Eastern storks prefer damp places. These birds settle in close proximity to wet places and water bodies. Their diet includes aquatic and semi-aquatic animals. These are invertebrates and small vertebrates. Mostly Far Eastern storks feed on frogs and medium-sized fish. When choosing nesting sites, individuals of this species try to avoid the proximity of human settlements. At the same time, the Far Eastern stork rarely builds nests in deaf, inaccessible places.
Far Eastern storks build their nests high in the trees. An indispensable condition when choosing a nesting site is the presence of water bodies near it. It can be swamps, lakes, rivers. In addition to trees, other high-rise structures can become nesting sites. We are talking, for example, about power lines. The diameter of the nest in Far Eastern storks is approximately two meters, and the height of the nest can vary from three to fourteen meters. One nest (as in cases with other storks) serves individuals of this species for many years. Egg laying takes place at the end of April. The number of eggs in a clutch ranges from two to six and depends on various conditions. Helpless chicks are born about thirty days after laying eggs. The female and male feed their offspring by regurgitating food into their beaks. Far Eastern storks reach puberty at the age of three to four years.