Stork

It is one of our most famous birds: In northern Germany, the white stork is also called “Sidebar”. It means “lucky charm”.

Characteristics

What does a stork look like?

Storks measure about 110 centimeters from head to tail, they have a wingspan of up to 220 centimeters. Storks weigh between three and four kilograms. Males and females look the same, but the males are usually slightly larger and heavier than the females.

Their plumage is white, the wings are black. In addition, there is the long, straight neck, the long red beak, and the long red legs – this makes the stork unmistakable and at the same time one of our largest land birds. Sometimes the feathers are elongated at the front of the neck. However, this is not the case with young birds.

The young stork’s beak is initially dark and then turns pale red before finally becoming as red like that of the adult animals. Storks look similar to herons, but if you look closely you can tell them apart in flight: While herons tuck in their necks and legs when flying, storks keep both their necks and legs stretched out in flight.

Where does the stork live?

White storks are at home in southern, central, and eastern Europe. However, they are no longer as widespread as they used to be and only occur in a few regions because they are finding fewer and fewer suitable habitats.

Storks need moist meadows with ponds, ponds, and groups of trees or swamps to live. They avoid forests. However, storks are also often found near settlements: the storks followed people because they found plenty of food in their meadows. And that’s where they often build their nests – on houses, trees, or rocks.

What types of the stork are there?

The storks form a family of their own, which includes 18 different species. Scientists used to include them in the order of waders, along with herons and ibises; today it is assumed that storks are much more closely related to New World vultures such as the condor. In addition to our white stork, the colorful stork and the black stork, which is very rare in our country, are well known.

How old does a stork get?

Storks can live for quite a long time. The oldest known stork in the wild was 33 years old.

Behave

How does the stork live?

Storks appear in many fairy tales and legends: as lucky charms or as the famous rattle stork, which supposedly – as some used to believe – brought the children. Storks stride across meadows or fields with stumpy steps, looking for food there. And because storks have a huge appetite and mainly eat insects and their larvae, they are important pest killers.

When storks are resting, they often stand on one leg and tuck their heads and beaks into the long feathers of their necks. Storks are one of our most well-known long-distance migratory birds. From August and September, they set out for their winter quarters in tropical sub-Saharan Africa.

All storks prefer to fly over land and avoid migrating long distances over the sea. That’s because they can only glide over land using the warm winds in energy- and power-saving gliding. The storks that fly the furthest can travel up to 10,000 kilometers – and they fly this distance twice a year: once on their way to winter quarters and then again when they fly back to their breeding grounds in Europe between late January and early April.

Friends and foes of the stork

The biggest enemy of the stork is man: As more and more wet meadows are drained, the storks find fewer and fewer habitats.

Most of them die today, however, because more and more poisons are used against insects in the agriculture and the storks eat these poisons with their prey. But many of the beautiful birds also die in high-voltage power lines. They are also hunted in some areas of their winter quarters.

How does the stork reproduce?

Storks are sexually mature at three to four, sometimes as late as six years. They usually stay together with a partner for many years. They build their nests from loosely stacked twigs and branches on trees, houses, chimneys, and even rocks. Such a stork’s nest is called “Horst” in technical jargon.

The so-called rock storks that nest on the Portuguese Atlantic coast are known all over the world. And because they keep using and expanding their nests year after year, powerful, high nests develop over time that can grow up to one and a half meters high and wide. After mating in April, the female lays three to five white eggs two to three days apart. Each weighs about 112 grams. The young hatch after 31 to 32 days. They weigh just 70 grams. However, because they have a huge appetite and get plenty to eat, they gain around 60 grams a day.