What do storks eat in nature. The black stork is black in color. What do storks eat

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.

Food

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 couple 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.

Human vision sometimes does not notice the minor details that distinguish one from the other. Most often this happens when our mind follows a certain strategy and focuses on the whole picture, and not on its parts. People who rarely see birds do not distinguish them precisely because of this optical illusion. Moreover, errors are made mainly in the definition of water birds. In the article we will try to figure out what are the differences between a stork, a crane and a heron?

Definition of a stork

The stork is a wandering (migratory) bird of large size, has long legs, the same neck and beak. He has huge, beautiful wings, the length of which can exceed two meters. This bird belongs to the Stork order, the Ankle family. Storks can cover vast territories in a year. Representatives of this family can be found on all continents, but most often they settle in the countries of the tropical zone, in hot and temperate latitudes. The most famous of them is the white stork, whose age can reach 20 years.

The wings of a stork are covered with white feathers, and dark at the edges. This is one of the main external differences between a stork and a crane, in which the plumage is almost completely gray. Living in nests, birds prefer open spaces and the proximity of water bodies. Their diet includes mainly small vertebrates. However, storks will not refuse snakes, frogs and toads. Worms, insects, amphibians, small rodents and fish - the food menu of these demanding birds is so varied.

The crane is a large migratory bird

These birds belong to the Crane family, which has about 15 species worldwide. Their representatives can be found in North America, Australia, Asia and Europe. These birds are distinguished by long gray legs. In the photo you can see the differences between the stork and the crane. It is clearly seen that this bird is decorated with grayish-white (rarely red) plumage. Its beak is short and yellowish in color. A recognizable feature of the crane is its small colored head and long black and white neck. The short feathery tail is especially impressive. Unlike the stork, the crane is larger.

Heron - a feathered inhabitant of the swamps

The heron is a large wading bird from the heron family. It has very long legs, and its elongated neck has a curved shape, so similar to the English letter S. Cranes mostly live near water, but adapt well to other conditions. Living in cold areas, the birds fly south for the winter and return in mid-spring. Activity is shown not only during the day, but also at night.

The most common representative of this species is the Bird that feeds exclusively on animals. Being very dexterous, the predator eats everyone who is unable to stand up for himself. Due to habitat, the heron's diet consists of fish, various small vertebrates, mollusks and crustaceans. In fairly large quantities, they destroy land animals: rodents, frogs, snakes, etc.

Differences between herons, cranes and storks: habitats and lifestyle features

The appearance of these birds is well known to both adults and children. But at the same time they are often confused with each other. And no wonder: there is a lot in common between them. But the differences are still much larger.

Herons live near bodies of water, such as marshes and reservoirs, and are considered skilled swimmers. During the hunt, they stand in shallow water, vigilantly looking for prey around them. For their nests, they choose places hidden from other eyes: flooded bushes, reeds or reeds. Since the birds are rather timid, they settle far away from people. It is worth noting that they have a very loud and harsh voice, which is often used during the flight.

Storks prefer to live and build their nests in the open. Their home is often on hills, tree branches, or rooftops. This bird is far from being timid, often settling rather close to people's dwellings. Storks are not connected to water, and can grab food from the ground as they go. In addition, they cannot swim and have virtually no voice. Instead of screaming, they tap their noses loudly. The birds are inactive at night.

The crane, unlike the stork and heron, can nest both in open spaces and near water bodies on the ground. These birds do not like to approach people, but they do not live alone either. They always live in groups among their relatives. They are vociferous and can perform mating dances, which is not typical of other aquatic birds. Very graceful.

Appearance

During the flight, herons keep their wings parallel to the body, and also retract their neck, which at these moments looks like the letter S. They are small, light birds, their average height is 110 cm, weight 1.5-2.5 kg. Their plumage is mostly white, rarely pale white. They have a serrated nail on their feet, with which they comb their small feathers. Herons are very elegant and neat birds.

Storks fly with a straight outstretched neck, they do not have a jagged claw. Average height - 125 cm, weight about 4 kg.

The plumage is light, but there are black feathers at the ends of the wings. Although there are species that are completely covered with black feathers.

When flying, cranes have sharp movements of the wings, which they have above the body, while their heavy neck is bent like a heron, but the hind legs are extended back.

You can see what a different color of feathers these birds have in the photos presented in the article: the differences between a stork, a crane and a heron are very noticeable. In cranes, feathers are white, gray, and the head, neck and tail are black. In addition, their beak is much shorter than that of their counterparts. In size, they are an order of magnitude larger than storks.

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.

If you find an error, please highlight a piece of text and click Ctrl+Enter.

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. in hour. 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.

Appearance. The stork is considered a fairly large bird (the weight of an adult is about 4 kg), reaching a length of up to 120 cm. The length of the metatarsus is 24 cm, the beak is 22.5 cm. bird plumage). True, a black tint can be seen on the flight and long shoulder feathers. Red color is taken by the iris of the eye, beak and legs. The legs and neck are extended during the flight.

Where to meet the white stork, his family and chicks, where he flies in winter

habitats. The white stork lives in the open zone of forests and steppes.

Food. Small fish, along with frogs, are the main food of the stork, although sometimes he can eat snakes, lizards, various types of insects and chicks of other representatives of birds, as well as slugs, mice and ground squirrels. nesting sites. The settlements of the western part of Russia are nesting places that the white stork mainly occupies. It is worth noting that other representatives of storks could not take root in conditions of active human activity.

Location and nest building material. The stork nests in elevated areas, which can be a tree, the roof of a wooden building, or a completely dilapidated building. On a tree for nesting, areas of dry branches located low above the ground at a level of 3-5 m, or a top of an already destroyed tree well illuminated by the sun, are selected. For the nest, various thick dry branches and twigs are selected with the addition of rotten straw and hay. Good pliable material - feathers, wool, hay, straw, felt rags and paper pieces - is used to line the tray.

Nest, its shape and size. Due to the fact that storks are able to use their nests for a long time, periodically repairing and building on them, the perennial nest turns out to be large, reaching up to one and a half meters in diameter. The height is the same, however, at a freshly built nest, it is approximately 40-50 cm.

Egg laying and its features. The female white stork is able to lay from 2 to 4 eggs, more often there are four. The eggs are 7.1-7.8x5-5.7 cm in size, without a pattern (they differ from the eggs of the black stork in their yellowish shell), as a result of prolonged incubation, they lose their whiteness.

Nesting dates. In the second half of March or early April, stork couples arrive, as a result of which eggs can be laid already in May, which both male and female will incubate for 33-34 days. Only in the second half of July, chicks at the age of 54-63 days leave their nests, and by seventy days of their life they acquire complete independence. Young storks at the end of August or the first weeks of September fly to Africa for wintering.

Distribution area. The prevalence of the white stork in Russia is not wide. This species of storks mainly occupies the western end of the Russian border, moving eastward up to the regions of the Pskov, Smolensk, Oryol and Kaluga regions. Separately lives in the eastern part of the Transcaucasian republics, rarely - in Dagestan; the white stork is also found in the Central Asian lands, where it occupies some part of Uzbekistan. In addition, the favorite nesting areas of the white stork are southwestern Ukraine and the rest of Europe.

Man and white stork: the benefits of a bird for nature and people

Economic purpose. It is believed that the stork contributes to the extermination of locusts, when, on its rare flights to grain fields and areas of the steppe, it begins to hunt for countless hordes of these harmful insects. On the other hand, although the stork can eat some types of snakes (for example, a completely harmless snake), nevertheless, it sometimes causes damage to the brood of agricultural birds - small chickens and ducklings, when they roam freely around the yard.

The white stork keeps many beliefs and legends about itself (there are also many legends about spiders), from time immemorial symbolizing longevity and marital fidelity (like the swans in the photo). But it is worth noting that the apparent strong closeness of the stork couple is very illusory, because often the male does not neglect the new female, if he did not wait for his first darling, who was late from wintering. So there can be a big conflict between two females in the nest.

Which of the people does not come to mind the whole peculiar appearance of the stork, as soon as you hear the name of this white bird? If you think sensibly, then a very small number of representatives of birds have earned their attention from people. Since the white stork, for some reason mysterious to scientists, for some reason seeks to coexist next to a person, without moving far from the human habitat, it can be said that the natural (natural or “wild”, in human language) habitat is not typical for stork family.

Often this bird nests on the roofs of houses, large sheds, chimneys of abandoned factories, on garden or park trees. By the way, white stork nesting sites are found not only in rural areas, but also in large urban centers - Bukhara can serve as an example of this.