The stork is a large bird, on high legs, with a long neck and a long beak. His wings are very large and beautiful. The color of the feathers is mostly white, only the ends of the wings are shiny, black.
Storks live where there are vast wet meadows, swamps and stagnant ponds. They arrange nests on the roofs of houses, in trees located in villages or close to them. Recently, storks have been making nests on high-voltage line supports, on factory chimneys. If there are few places suitable for nesting, fights arise between birds. The same pair of storks can live in the nest for several years.
The nests of storks are large, a meter or more in diameter. Nest building lasts up to 10 days. Occasionally, white storks build a second nest, which serves them for sleeping or as a guard post.
In winter, storks fly to warmer climes. Older birds set off earlier or later than younger ones, but they never fly with them. Shortly before departure, white storks gather in flocks; on wintering grounds, they sometimes stay in thousands of clusters. Departure begins at the end of August, sometimes delayed until October. Birds fly during the day and at high altitude.
White storks feed on animal food, eat frogs, lizards, various insects, molluscs, fish and small mice, small hares and speckled ground squirrels. During feeding, storks slowly walk around, but, noticing the prey, they can quickly run up to it.
Many peoples of the world revere this unusual majestic bird. In Russia, since pagan times, the stork was considered a bird of fate, a messenger of happiness and prosperity. Even children know the belief that this bird brings babies.
To this day, there is a legend that in the house, over the roof of which a stork builds a nest, happiness will reign, children will grow up healthy, a vegetable garden and a garden will give a bountiful harvest. People believe that these birds are well versed in people: nests are built only near the houses of those who are worthy of happiness. If you ruin a nest or kill a bird, then misfortune will come to the house.
If the stork himself left the nest on the roof and carried the chicks, there will be a fire in the house or lightning will fall into it.
There is such a legend. Once God gave a man a bag of reptiles and ordered him to throw it into the sea, into the fire, bury it in a hole, or leave it on top of a mountain. Out of curiosity, the man untied the bag, and all the evil spirits spread over the ground. Then, as a punishment, God turned a man into a stork so that he would cleanse the earth of reptiles - snakes, hedgehogs. From shame, the stork's nose and legs turned red.
It is believed that storks have human soul, understand the language of a person, cry tears, pray to God (this is their scream), celebrate weddings together.
The white stork is a member of the stork family, in which there are 17 species of birds. It lives in Europe, Malaya and Central Asia, Africa. It prefers to settle in damp places, it can be a swampy area, wet meadows, arranging nests near human habitation.
Weight 3 - 4 kg, height 120cm, length up to 115cm. The span of long and wide wings is 160-200 cm. He has long red legs Long neck and a long strong red beak. The plumage is white and the flight feathers are black. Vigilant dark eyes are “summed up” around by a black stripe.
European white storks, for the winter they fly to South Africa, this happens in September - early October. Young birds fly away before their parents - in August.
Before departure, they gather in large flocks up to several thousand. This is a heavy bird, in order to take off, you must first run a few meters, vigorously flapping its wings. They rise high into the sky, stretching their legs and neck. Their flight speed can reach 75 km/h. In one day, they can fly about 200 km. They fly well, hover in the sky for a long time, gaining altitude.
Birds feed mainly on frogs, insects, lizards, mice and fish. He leisurely walks in search of food, as if on a walk, but noticing living creatures, he rushes after it and catches it. The stork loves to rest - to stand on one leg.
After winter, the birds return in early April. Young couples build a nest from branches and branches, lining the tray with feathers, wool, rags and other found materials that the builders think are necessary. Their nests are large, from 1.5 meters in diameter. They build them on the branches of trees, on the roofs of houses.
People attract beautiful birds for nesting by displaying baskets and cartwheels. Successful couples meet at the old nest, repair it, complete it and re-equip it. Such buildings reach several centners in weight. If one of the partners did not return due to death, then you must first find a soul mate, and then deal with the nest.
As a rule, the male first arrives at the nest, the female a little later. It happens that a new one descends into the nest 
a female, and a faithful friend arrives a little later. The girls sort things out, and things can come to a fight. The male does not interfere in the disassembly of the female sex, apparently he thinks he should not have been late - I am always in demand.
Storks have a beautiful courtship ritual. First, they greet each other at a meeting - they loudly knock with their beaks, spread their tail and wings, then they throw their heads back, laying it on their backs, and again pull them forward. At the same time, they can whistle, hiss. The female will lay 3-6 white eggs, they will incubate in turn for about a month.
Parents feed the born chicks with worms, bring water in their beaks. The weak and sick are thrown out of the nest. Chicks need the protection and warmth of their parents, they are too helpless. Two months later, the chicks make attempts to fly. While they hone their flight skills, and this period lasts for two weeks, their parents continue to feed them.
Busel are white
The whole territory of Belarus
Stork family - Ciconiidae
In Belarus - C. c. ciconia (the subspecies inhabits the entire European part range of the species).
Common breeding migrant and transit migrant. The territory of Belarus is conditionally divided into 3 regions with different white stork nesting densities: southern and southwestern regions with high density, central - with medium density, northern and northeastern regions, where storks are common, and in some places rare.
The appearance of a stork is well known: a long, straight and sharp beak, a long neck and long legs, wide wings. The plumage color is mostly white, only flight feathers and rear part backs are black. The beak and legs of adult storks are red, but in young storks the beak is dark gray, almost black. The weight of males is 2.9-3.6 kg, females 2.9-3.1 kg. Body length (both sexes) 97-110 cm, wingspan 200-220 cm.
In the last 40 years White stork flew in the second decade of March - the first decade of April. The timing of the arrival of the white stork as it moves by 1° of latitude from the southwest to the northeast of the region shifts by 2–3 days. Autumn migration, on the contrary, occurs the same number of days earlier.
Inhabits open spaces mainly in flat areas, more often near water bodies or vast swamps. Moving with a leisurely gait along a mowed meadow or the shore of a reservoir, the stork looks for food. It rests on the nest or on the top of the tree. It is capable of soaring flight and can circle for a long time in the sky in ascending air currents. This is perhaps the only one of our birds, deprived of the ability to make sounds with a vocal apparatus. This bird produces a characteristic "scream" due to frequent blows of the mandible on the mandible. Through traditional patronage local population white storks in Belarus are not afraid of humans and since ancient times nest in settlements - villages, towns and even small towns. There are especially many nests of storks in the villages of the Belarusian Polesie, adjacent to open river floodplains - the favorite places for feeding this bird. Among river floodplains or near them, along country roads, on forest edges you can meet nests of white storks outside settlements. These birds nest, as a rule, in separate pairs, however, in the south of Belarus, group settlements are sometimes found, in which several pairs of storks nest in close proximity.
Males are the first to arrive at the nesting site, females 3-4 days later. Appearing in the spring already in the last decade of March, storks immediately occupy old nests. They are located, as a rule, on trees, but nests are often found on the roofs of houses and sheds, water towers, power line supports. Sometimes storks make nests in unusual places- for example, on stacks of hay, well cranes and even on the boom of a non-working crane. They often occupy bases for nests specially arranged by people in the form of wooden frames or wheels mounted on trees. Birds usually nest in solitary pairs; group settlements of 4–10 or more pairs are also known.
The nest is a bulky structure made of twigs and branches mixed with bundles of hay and straw. Over the years, it becomes even more massive, as it has been in use for many years and is constantly being built on. A flat tray is usually lined with a fairly thick layer. soft material, in particular straw, hay, shreds of felt, wool, old rags, scraps of paper and rope, feathers, etc. Nest height 40-115 cm, diameter 70-230 cm; tray depth 8-12 cm, diameter 35-40 cm. Construction of a new nest takes about 8 days.
In a full clutch there are from 2 to 6 (usually 4) eggs (as an exception, a clutch of 7 eggs is noted in Europe). Egg weight 100 g, length 73 mm (67-79 mm), width 52 mm (47-53 mm). The shell is white, yellowish in the light. When incubated, it may acquire a grayish tint; granularity is relatively weakly expressed.
The bird starts laying eggs in the last decade of April or early May. Egg laying occurs at intervals of 2-3 days. One brood per year. The male and female incubate for 29-30 or 33-34 days. Incubation usually begins after the laying of the second egg. The chicks stay in the nest for a long time, making their first flight not earlier than on the 50th day of life (in the second half of July - early August). Prior to this, adults regularly bring food to the chicks, and in the first weeks of their life, one of the adult birds is constantly on the nest, guarding the brood and covering the chicks from the sun in hot weather, and from rain in rainy weather. The chicks stay in the nest for 54–63 days. About 15–17 days after departure, parents feed the young. At the age of 70 days young birds become independent.
In the nesting behavior of storks, an interesting, not entirely clear phenomenon is often observed - throwing one or two eggs or chicks out of the nest. If a discarded chick is put back into the nest, storks in most cases (but not always!) Throw it out again. As a rule, the weakest chick of the brood is thrown out. Perhaps this behavior is associated with the difficulty of feeding the entire brood in years that are unfavorable in terms of food.
Not all pairs of storks nest. For the first time, birds start nesting in three years old, some at the age of six, a small number at the age of two.
In August, stork families form pre-migratory clusters - flocks of 20-40, rarely up to 100 or more adults and young birds that are found in meadows, fields, forest edges, and human settlements. By the end of August, most of these flocks have already left the territory of Belarus, in September you can see mostly small “late” groups or single, often sick birds.
The range of food for the white stork is very wide: frogs, terrestrial and aquatic invertebrates, lizards and snakes, fish, small rodents, etc. There are cases of eating small birds and even small rabbits by storks. The quantitative ratios of different food objects vary greatly depending on the area and the season of the year.
During the national bird count in 1995–1996. (within the framework of the V International Census of White Storks) 11807 nesting pairs were registered, of which 97% successfully hatched chicks.
The number of white storks in Belarus at the end of the 20th century was estimated at 10.5–13 thousand pairs. According to the 2004 national census, about 21.5 thousand pairs of white storks nested in Belarus (9% of the world population of the species), in the Brest region - 5874 nesting pairs. According to the latest national census (2014-2015), the number of white storks in Belarus is estimated at 22-22.5 thousand breeding pairs and already accounts for 10% of the world population.
The maximum registered age in Europe is 39 years.
Olga Vasilevskaya, Pinsk district (Brest region)
It is probably difficult to find a person who has never heard of a stork. You may not know about the existence of a phaeton, great snipe or marabou, but almost everyone knows a beautiful and graceful bird with a long beak, which belongs to the ankle family.
There are many beliefs about her, there are customs associated with the stork, ancient legends are passed on from generation to generation and they compose poems and songs. Since ancient times, this bird has been a symbol of fidelity, prosperity and longevity of the family. And, of course, many children know that the same stork pretty much “tried” for their birth.
White stork - description
It will not be an exaggeration to say that this is the most famous of the twelve species of these graceful birds. This is a white handsome man with black wing edging, a long and mobile neck, a red and long thin beak, reddish long legs and a very important gait .. When the white stork folds its wings, it seems that its entire back is black.
It is impossible to distinguish the female from the male by color. They differ only in size - females are slightly smaller. The growth of these birds is up to 125 cm, the wingspan can reach two meters. Weight adult does not exceed four kilograms. white stork in wild nature lives up to twenty years. He is considered a long-liver. In captivity, this period is somewhat less.
Where does the white stork live?
The habitat of these birds is quite large - it is the whole of Europe and Asia. In Europe, the territory where the stork lives extends from Southern Sweden in the north to Bryansk, Smolensk, Lipetsk in the east. It should be noted that in last years range has expanded significantly eastbound. The white stork hibernates in tropical Africa, India. The population that lives in southern regions African continent, settled. Do not fly away for the winter, and these white birds living in Western Europe, where the winters are quite warm.
Many bird lovers take wonderful photos: a white stork flies for the winter. Their path can take two routes. Flocks that live west of the Elbe River fly over the Strait of Gibraltar. They remain to winter between the Sahara and the rain tropical forests Africa.
Storks that nest east of the Elbe cross Asia Minor and Israel and winter in East Africa between Sudan and South Africa.
In all wintering places, these beautiful birds gather in thousands of flocks. Immature young individuals sometimes remain in Africa for the entire wintering period. Storks fly only in daytime. They fly at a very high altitude, often soar. To do this, they choose aerodynamically convenient areas. Storks avoid flying over the sea.
Nest
Nevertheless special interest What causes researchers is not where the white stork lives in terms of continents and borders, but its choice of a specific place to build a nest.
In the 19th century, German scientist Alfred Brehm noticed unique feature these birds - long before the construction of the nest, the white stork has been watching people for quite a long time.
This is probably why if a stork's nest appeared in some village courtyard, it was believed that this would entail prosperity, health and well-being. This is amazing, but there have been cases when these birds even flew to the balconies of high-rise buildings.
Lifestyle in the wild
Today, bird lovers can see their photos in numerous magazines. The white stork, a description with a photo of which is published by various publications, is of interest not only to amateurs, but also to professional researchers.
Like most of large birds, the stork prefers soaring flight - this is an energetically favorable way of movement. He is able to fly many kilometers without flapping his wings when he finds suitable air currents.
The speed of storks on migration reaches 200-250 km per day. Birds fly in flocks, forming flocks of many thousands during wintering. During migration, they quite often switch completely to feeding on insects, giving special preference to large locusts. For this they are called "locust birds" in Africa.
Banding has been used to observe the migration of these birds for many years, however, in recent years, new methods of observation have appeared. The most informative of them (but at the same time the most complex and expensive) is satellite tracking. To do this, the white stork receives a special "equipment" - a small transmitter that constantly transmits signals to the satellite.
Nutrition
The main diet of these birds are small vertebrates and invertebrates. They are not averse to eating frogs, toads, snakes, vipers and large grasshoppers. With no less pleasure to eat may beetles, earthworms, small fish, lizards.
Looking for food, these birds move slowly and importantly. But as soon as they notice the prey, they instantly run up and grab it. Caring parents carry water for their chicks in their beaks.
reproduction
Many of our readers saw a couple of these birds in the photo. The white stork is a monogamous creature. Each pair breeds in a nest that can be used more than once.
Previously, storks built their nests exclusively on trees, close to human dwellings. They created a huge nest of branches. Later, for this purpose, they began to use the roofs of houses and outbuildings, often people specially built small sheds for them.
IN Lately storks are increasingly building nests on factory chimneys, high-voltage power line supports. One nest can serve a couple for several years. The older it is, the larger its diameter and weight. Some of them reach a weight of several centners. It is not uncommon for their offspring to occupy the nest after the death of their parents.
Males arrive at the nesting site a little earlier than their mates. In our country, this happens in early April. As soon as the first female appears nearby, the male perceives her as his “half”. Nevertheless, if another individual flies to the nest, a serious struggle begins between them for the right to become a mother. The male does not take part in this fight.
The male invites the winning female to the nest. He throws his head back to his back and makes clicking rhythmic sounds with his beak. To make the resonance greater, he removes his tongue into the larynx. The same sounds can be heard if another male approaches the nest, only in this case the posture will be different - the neck and body are extended horizontally, while the bird raises and lowers its wings. Often, such a picture can be observed when young and full of strength males fly to the nest of an old stork, who are too lazy to build their own “house”. If the rival does not hear threats, the owner of the nest rushes at the enemy and hits him hard with his beak.
Having accepted the male's invitation, the female flies into the "family nest", and now two birds throw their heads back and click their beaks. The female lays from 2 to 5 eggs, much less often from 1 to 7. The pair incubates them together. As a rule, the male does this during the day, and the female at night. The transmission of "fasting" is accompanied by a special ritual - special postures and clattering of beaks. This process continues for 33 days. Hatched chicks are sighted, but completely helpless.
Feeding the chicks
Probably, you have seen a photo - a white stork feeds chicks. This is a very exciting sight. At first, parents feed babies with earthworms from their beak. Chicks are surprisingly clever at catching them on the fly or picking them up in the nest if they failed to catch them. Having become a little older, they try to snatch food from the beak of their parents.
Adult storks watch their offspring very carefully; if necessary, they throw sick and weak chicks out of the nest. Young storks take off for the first time in 55 days. At first, this happens under the supervision of parents. Adult birds feed them for another 18 days. Young storks spend the night in the nest, and during the day they train in the skill of flight.
After 70 days, they turn into independent individuals, and at the end of August, the "youth" already flies away for the winter on their own, driven by instinct. Adult birds set off later - in September.
Sounds emitted
The white stork (adult), when meeting with a pair, loudly clicks its beak. The chicks squeak and scream, these sounds are very reminiscent of the meowing of kittens.
Clicking its beak, the bird throws its head back and retracts its tongue. This creates a resonant cavity that amplifies the sound. The clicking of the beak replaced the stork's voice communication.
Attitude towards brothers
It should be noted that in relation to individuals of its own species, the white stork is very aggressive. It is not uncommon for several adult birds to beat their weaker counterpart to death.
The number of storks
Despite the fact that people favorably treat these majestic birds, in western parts their range is constantly decreasing. Scientists explain this fact by the intensification Agriculture, reduction of forage base, chemicalization environment, which leads to poisoning, disruption of the reproductive cycle and death of birds.
Nevertheless, in our country the number of storks is growing every year. Today in the world there are about 150 thousand pairs of these white beauties, a third of them breed in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.
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. Besides, family ties these birds are traced with marabou, saddle bills 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, - 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 temperate zone 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 gatherings, 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.
The clutch of these birds is from 2 to 5 eggs. white color. 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. birds of prey, and nesting in trees - from terrestrial 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 forage lands (ponds, meadows) and attract comfortable places for nesting.
A small colony of white storks on an old bell tower.
