Stork is a large bird, outwardly spectacular, and many fashion brands use it in their collections of clothes and accessories. But if you can often see these birds on dresses and purses, then in reality certain species of storks are even listed in the Red Book. The number of black storks (Ciconia nigra) is rapidly declining, while the number of Far Eastern storks (Ciconia boyciana) also remains.
The family of storks consists of 17 species and 9 genera, the birds are distinguished by a long graceful neck, large body, long unstoppable legs with a swimming membrane and a sharp beak. Different species of these birds differ from each other in appearance. What do storks eat, where do they live, how do they breed offspring? What are the main types of these birds still have the opportunity to meet? You will find answers to all these questions in the article.
White stork
The Latin name is Ciconia ciconia. This species can be recognized by the snow-white color of the plumage and the black tips of the wings. Thanks to the contrasting color (the legs and beak of the bird are bright red), the white stork has become a muse for many Asian artists, its image can often be found in Chinese and Japanese painting along with images of cranes. An adult bird weighs an average of 4 kg, females - a little less. The wings of a white stork reach 60 centimeters in length. Attempts were made to cross a white stork with a black one, but nothing came of it, since their mating rituals differ too much. White storks are monogamous.
Black stork
The Latin name is Ciconia nigra. Representatives of this species are slightly inferior to white storks in size: weigh an average of 3 kg, and their wings do not exceed 55 centimeters in length. The color of the bird is usually not pure black, but with a greenish or red tint. The beak, limbs, throat and skin near the eyes are colored red. The abdomen of a black stork, the photo of which is presented to your attention below, is white. A characteristic feature of black storks is monogamy: they choose a partner for life.
Stork
The Latin name is Anastomus. This is the common name of the genus, it refers to the African stork, Indian stork. The main external difference is the larger beak, which does not completely close, there is always a small gap. That is why the bird got its name.
Brazilian Yabiru
The Latin name is Jabiru mycteria. This is a large bird with a wingspan of up to 2.5 meters. The tip of the long beak of a stork has a slight bend up. The body of the Brazilian yabiru is painted white, and the head, neck and beak are blue-black. Females differ from males in yellow eyes. The stork’s neck, the photo of which you can see below, has a red-orange hue at the base.
Marabou
The Latin name is Leptoptilos. This is the common name of the genus, it includes Javanese, African, Indian marabu. Like the Brazilian Yabiru, these storks are large, with a large head and a massive beak. Even adult birds look more like ugly ducklings than beautiful swans. Wings reach a length of 70 centimeters, birds weigh about 5 kg. Marabou has an unofficial name - "adjutant", received by him for a walk, like the military. There is no plumage on the bird’s head, as well as on a peculiar protrusion of the neck, which helps to keep the heavy beak. The tail, back and wings are painted in dark gray or black.
Far Eastern Stork
The Latin name is Ciconia boyciana. Refers to endangered species, in Russia the number of these birds does not exceed three thousand. Birds, like black and white storks, are monogamous. Outwardly resemble white storks, but more massive, and their beak is painted black. It has other names: Chinese, black-billed stork. The area of skin around the eyes of the Far Eastern storks is colored red. The extermination of individuals of this species entails not only a fine, but also imprisonment.
Feeding storks
The main tool for hunting storks is the beak. What do storks eat? The basis of the diet is animal food: from small insects, mollusks, pests and amphibians to small mammals. Often you can see a stork eating snakes and frogs. The stork, the description of which is presented to your attention in the article, is able to catch a small bird, mouse, hare or ground squirrel. Storks are usually slow, but they can also pursue particularly interesting prey. There are frequent cases when these birds cover large (5-10 km) distances from the nesting place in order to get enough food for the chicks.
The stork swallows the whole food, is able to bring large quantities to its children. The structure of these birds also allows you to bring water in your beak. When hunting, a stork is easily able to disguise itself as surrounding vegetation, remains motionless or walks very slowly. These birds almost do not make sounds, so they do not attract the attention of prey. Sometimes, for lunch, the stork can choose the eggs of other birds.
What storks eat, we already know. But I wonder how much? After all, the bird is huge, and as you already know, food can be swallowed whole. For normal functioning, the body of an adult stork needs an average of 700 grams of food per day. Storks are excellent hunters, there are cases when they fished up to 50 mice in one hour.
Life span
How long do storks live? In ideal artificial conditions, birds can live for more than a quarter of a century. How long do storks live in natural conditions? A rare individual survives to 15 years. Factors such as environmental conditions, natural selection, diseases, lack of food, harm caused by humans and predators hinder the long life of storks. Sometimes members of this family themselves reduce the life expectancy of their brethren by pecking sick birds. It has been noticed that for the longest time storks live where energy is positive, where there are no people swearing nearby, where peace and tranquility reign.
Storks wintering places
A stork is a migratory bird, except for South African birds that live in one place without flying away. They are looking for places for wintering, where it will be warm enough and a lot of food. Old and young individuals of storks go separately to spend the winter in warm lands. This usually happens between late August and October. The flight takes place in the daytime, the birds fly high, the directions for European and Eastern storks are different.
Birds, whose habitats are located west of the Elbe, head to the Iberian Peninsula, then move towards Africa via Gibraltar. As a result, birds winter in western Africa, in the area between the Sahara desert and the tropics. Both European storks and birds from the Iberian Peninsula, and from Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria, winter here.
Birds whose nesting sites are located east of the Elbe are sent for wintering to the long territory between Sudan and South Africa. They fly first to the Bosphorus, then cross the lands of Asia Minor and Palestine, fly over the Nile River before reaching their destination. Some of the flocks may remain in South Arabia, some choose Ethiopia for wintering, while others continue their long journey, some fly to India.
Wintering places for storks differ depending on the species: whites survive the winter in Africa, Pakistan, India, Korea, and the Japanese islands. Blacks - south of the Sahara, in the Ganges basin, in the southeastern part of China.
About the chicks
Most often, there are more eggs in the clutch than the chicks hatch: some eggs remain unfertilized. Hatching lasts from 30 to 46 days.
Little storks have vision, but are otherwise helpless for the first 70 days of life. The chicks are white and fluffy, after hatching for about 10 days they lie, and the first 7 weeks are no-show in the place of birth - the nest. Even after the chick has learned to fly, his parents help him in search of food for 2-3 weeks.
While the stork's chicks are in the nest, their weight may exceed the weight of the parents, but gradually their nutrition is limited. Storks throw sick, weak chicks out of the nest, leaving only those who can fight for life. Puberty occurs at the age of three years, birds begin to nest later - at 6 years.
Habitat
What determines the habitat of storks? To find food suitable for it, the bird often settles in swamps, moist meadows, and bodies of water with stagnant water. The climate for storks is preferable tropical, temperate or hot. Marabu build nests on trees, black storks prefer forests, white - lowlands, yabiru - marshy areas.
White storks live in Europe, in North-West Africa, in Asia Minor, in Amur and Primorye, on the Japanese islands. Black storks live in the southern part of the Iberian Peninsula, in the south to the Persian Gulf, in the north - to St. Petersburg, Tomsk. For the black stork, the preferred nesting places are those where there are old forests, impenetrable swamps. This bird does not like to be with people.
Stork nests
The nests of these birds take up a lot of space: their diameter reaches 2 meters and their weight is more than 200 kg. Most often, birds choose roofs of houses or trees, but there are also unexpected places where stork nests were found, for example, a lamppost. Previously, when the roofs of human dwellings were often thatched, storks settled there. Currently, their nests can be found on water towers, haystacks.
Materials for the construction of the nest: branches, twigs, straw, grass, rags, wool, paper. The nest accommodates adult parents and up to 7 eggs. Often, storks settle where there is already a home for their relatives. As a rule, storks live in one nest for more than one year, they build it very carefully, and repair it as necessary.
Legends and interesting facts about storks
What storks eat , where they live, what species are common - you already know. In conclusion, I would like to tell you some legends and interesting facts about these incomparable birds. Storks in many countries are sacred, for example, in Japan it is forbidden to hunt them. In ancient Greece, it was customary to kneel at the sight of the first stork. There are many legends about storks, which cannot be said about any sparrow.
The most mysterious species can be called black storks: they prefer to live as far away from people as possible.
Legends
- A curious legend explains the red color of the nose and legs of storks. Once, according to this legend, God handed a man a bag full of snakes, hedgehogs and other reptiles. The man had to get rid of them: burn, throw into the sea, bury or just leave it untouched, but disobeyed. The sack was unleashed out of curiosity, and the rebellious man was punished by the life-long transformation of various evil spirits into a bird-eater. The former man was ashamed of what he had done, because storks to this day are distinguished by a red nose and limbs.
- Ukrainian legend: once on a house with two babies storks nested. There was a fire, but the owners were not at home, then the storks carried the children out of the fire, slightly singing the tips of the wings. Since then, all storks have been black, and their beak and legs are red.
Interesting Facts
- marabou is a predator and scavenger, so not all members of the stork family eat frogs and bugs;
- storks are often not inclined to change the nest; there are cases when several families of birds have lived in the same nest for more than 300 years;
- the stork’s males are not particularly picky: they mate with the female who first goes to their house (nest);
- not only females, but also male storks are engaged in hatching eggs;
- the ancient Romans believed that chick storks, growing up, feed their parents, but this is not so;
- during flights, storks may fall asleep for a short while to restore strength, while continuing to move.
Signs associated with storks:
- German sign: if a girl meets two storks with the onset of spring, this year will bring her marriage, if one - while remains unmarried;
- a sign from Morocco: storks were considered people from a distant island who knew how to turn to birds and vice versa;
- Moldovans consider this bird a symbol of winemaking and growing grapes;
- in Turkey, it was believed that the house on which the storks nested was protected from fire and lightning;
- The Polish belief says that storks circling in the sky not just like that, but driving away clouds;
- Armenians consider storks to be patrons of agriculture.