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 a black edging of wings, a long and mobile neck, a red and long thin beak, reddish long legs and a very important gait.. When a 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. The weight of an adult does not exceed four kilograms. White stork V 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 the range has expanded significantly in the eastern direction. The white stork hibernates in tropical Africa, India. The population that lives in southern regions African continent, settled. These white birds living in Western Europe, where winters are quite warm, do not fly away for the winter.

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 during the daytime. They fly 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, a scientist from Germany, Alfred Brehm, noticed a unique feature of 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 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 they 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.

Recently, storks are increasingly building nests on factory pipes, 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 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, their numbers are constantly declining in the western parts of the range. 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.

The stork is a rather large bird with high legs, long neck and beak.

The most famous among storks is the white stork. It is called because the color of the plumage of this bird is predominantly white, but the ends of the wings have a shiny black color. When the bird's wings are folded, it seems that the entire back of the stork is black.

The white stork is distributed throughout the European part. It also lives in Asia. These birds winter in the warm regions of India and Africa. Storks live in swampy areas, in low-lying meadows. They can also be found near human dwellings. They are not afraid of people. Storks nest on the roofs of houses, in trees. The nests they built serve them for many years. After wintering, white birds fly to former place nesting. Male storks always arrive first. They repair their nests in anticipation of their "spouses". The older the nest, the more powerful it is and the larger in circumference. Storks live for about 20-22 years. And by the end of their lives, their nests weigh about a hundred kilograms. Not only the host storks themselves nest in them, but also other birds. After the death of adults, the nest is "inherited" to the children of storks.

Storks eat toads, frogs, lizards, mice, insects, ground squirrels. Adult storks feed small chicks with earthworms, grasshoppers, May beetles. A clean water they bring it in their beak and pour it into the little beaks of their babies. After two months, the stork chicks are looking for their own food.

A selection of photos and pictures of storks

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. Lately storks also make nests on the supports of high-voltage lines, 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.

Stork nests 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 a human soul, understand the language of a person, cry tears, pray to God (this is their scream), celebrate weddings together.

The white stork, of course, does not bring children, he has a lot of his own worries, which is worth building a nest, which reaches a huge size: the weight of such a structure can be several centners.

This noble bird has been revered by the Eastern Slavs since ancient times, it is considered the messengers of prosperity, prosperity, wealth and the birth of new offspring. Previously, childless couples specially attracted these birds to their homes, for this they attached a wheel from a cart to the roof, in the hope that this wheel would become the basis for building a future nest. Couples without children hoped that long-awaited children would appear in their house with the appearance on the roof.

The owners of the house carefully guarded the nests of storks, it was believed that if the nest of these birds was destroyed, the house would burn down. Perhaps this is all superstition, but the 19th-century zoologist Alfred Bram noticed that storks carefully choose a place to build a nest. Before building a nest on the roof, they watch people for a long time and find out if they are in danger.

White storks nest in both Europe and Asia. The habitat of white storks is swampy meadows with a hot or temperate climate.

For the winter, birds fly to India and Africa. It is noteworthy that white storks head to warm countries in two ways. storks from Western Europe fly over the Strait of Gibraltar, fly over the Sahara desert and stop in the middle of Africa. And birds from Asia and of Eastern Europe fly over Israel and Asia Minor and are located between South Sudan and South Africa.


The flight of white storks takes place at great heights, as they have adapted to use aerodynamic flows to their advantage, thereby conserving strength. The flight takes place during the daytime, and at night the storks rest. White storks try not to fly over the seas.

Back storks return in early March, upon arrival they immediately begin mating season. Young males build their nests for the first time and wait for young females. The first female to choose a nest will become its owner forever. Sometimes several females claim one nest at once, males do not interfere in such disputes and the “ladies” sort things out themselves.


Storks - migratory birds.

The male invites the winner to the nest, throwing back his neck and making clanking sounds with his beak. The female does the same as the male. A pair uses one nest for the rest of its life. Quite often, one of the offspring of the couple becomes the next owners of the nest. One of the oldest nests recorded in Germany, white storks lived in it from 1549 to 1930.


Of course, the male has to defend the rights to his possessions, sometimes younger individuals who do not want to spend their energy on building their own home encroach on him. It is noteworthy that small birds, such as sparrows and starlings, are not driven out by storks, and they are located right in the walls of the stork's nest.


Usually, the female lays 2-5 eggs, less often they can be from 1 to 7. Both father and mother are engaged in incubation: the female incubates the offspring at night, and the male during the day. A month later, the babies hatch. They are small in size, at first the cubs are completely helpless, they cannot even get food from their parents' beaks on their own. But stork cubs have excellent eyesight, so they dig in the nest and find various worms.

Stork - very beautiful bird with which many legends are associated. These birds attract attention large sizes, bright color. There are several varieties of storks, but the most common species is the white stork.

Characteristic features appearance white storks are white color feather cover (except for the black ends of the wings); red, thin, narrow beak; reddish, thin, elongated legs; thin, Long neck. Males and females can be distinguished only by size (the female is somewhat smaller). The growth of an adult is approximately 1-1.2 meters, the length of the wing span is 60 cm, and the weight is 4 kg. Storks live for about twenty years. Storks have reduced vocal cords, so they are mute.

Storks are found throughout European and Asian territory. They prefer habitats near bodies of water. For wintering, these birds fly away in autumn, in large flocks to Africa or India.

Favorite food of storks: locusts, grasshoppers, toads, vipers. They can also eat small fish, birds, hares, ground squirrels.

A feature in the behavior of storks is their attachment to nests. Birds after wintering return to their nests and restore them. Thus, over the years, the diameter of the nest increases. Even the descendants of these birds often inherit the home. There is a case in history when several generations of storks inhabited the same nest for 381 years (1549 - 1930, Germany).

From the age of three, storks become sexually mature and begin to worry about building a nest. Often they choose such places for arrangement as: tree tops, roofs of houses, pipes or poles of high-voltage lines. Sometimes the weight of the nest can be up to 250 kg, diameter - up to 1.5 m, height - up to 50 cm. The main components of the nest are large branches, and the lining is wool, pieces of cloth, paper. The nest is so large that starlings and sparrows often live in it in parallel with storks.

In spring, storks lay from one to seven eggs, which are incubated by both parents for 33 days. After hatching, the storks are under guardianship in the nesting area. An interesting fact is that if there are weak and sick among the chicks, the storks throw them out of the nest. When the chick reaches 70 days, it becomes independent and flies out.