Where do storks live and where do storks winter? The story about storks for children contains a lot of educational information.
Where does the stork live?
White stork- a large marsh bird from the stork family. Storks are monogamous birds that live in pairs.
The white stork lives in Europe and Asia. In Europe, its range extends in the north to southern Sweden and the Leningrad region, east to Smolensk, Bryansk and Lipetsk, and in recent years the range has been expanding eastward.
Where do storks winter?
They winter in Africa (south of the Sahara) and in Asia (India, Pakistan, Indochina, etc.). They return home quite early: in late March - early April.
Where do storks nest?
They usually nest near wet meadows, swamps and stagnant water bodies. Nests are built on rooftops, in trees near houses, water towers, etc. Stork nests are large and the pair build them together. It happens that during the construction of the nest, storks use twigs and firebrands that smolder. Sometimes this leads to a fire. What caused such attention of storks to smoldering objects is unknown, but it is precisely with this that the belief is connected that storks can set fire to the owner's house, which destroyed their nest.
Stork nests are bulky, usually have a diameter of at least a meter, and if an old nest is occupied, which is being renovated and completed by storks, then the diameter can reach one and a half meters. The construction of a new nest takes about 8 days. Occasionally, white storks build a second nest, which serves them for sleeping or as a guard post.
In clutch - from 1 to 7 eggs, more often 4-5. Sometimes it happens that parents throw one chick out of the nest. Although, from a human point of view, this may seem cruel, birds have a different logic: this is a chick, perhaps a sick one, it still cannot survive.
What do storks eat?
White storks, like other storks, feed on animal food: frogs, lizards, insects, fish and small mammals.
Legends associated with storks. In general, many legends are associated with storks: they bring happiness to the house where they nest. The stork is a symbol of family well-being, it was considered a sacred bird. The storks were not to be disturbed. Another legend claims that storks have their own "courts". According to legend, the "guilty" in these courts are sentenced to death. This legend has a biological basis: in autumn, storks can really kill weak birds that are not able to withstand a long flight.
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 marshes
The heron is a large marsh 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 gray heron. The bird 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
Appearance These birds are 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.
When it comes to what the white stork eats, for some reason everyone first of all remembers frogs (remember yourself), although they are far from being the basis of his diet. This representative is unpretentious in food, he catches all kinds of small animals that are found under his feet - from worms to small rodents. It could only be swallowed. But, first of all, the stork feeds on a variety of insects; in dry areas, they can make up to 99 percent of the prey.
Storks swallow their prey whole. All sorts of small things are swallowed immediately, and large insects and rodents are first killed with beak blows, and then only eaten. Sometimes you can see how a stork, before eating, “chews” a caught mouse with its beak for a while, as if tasting it. He can play, then letting go, then grabbing her again, like a kitten. Large and dry prey, if there is water nearby, the stork is first rinsed in it for some time until it becomes such that it can be easily swallowed. Also, it first washes contaminated caught frogs and fish.
Birds are looking for prey on the ground or in shallow water. They do not like to go far into the water - it is rare when you see a stork at a depth of more than 20-30 centimeters. Hunting techniques can be varied. More often, storks are actively looking for prey. Everyone knows the picture: a stork, decorously pacing in the grass. At the same time, he can make sudden throws, then freeze in place, and sometimes even beats his wings. Often, birds accompany herds of cows, herds of horses, working tractors or combines.
A favorite feeding place for storks is fresh mowing. You can see these birds even at the strip of fire in the grass. We rarely do this, but in Africa, storks like to gather where the locals burn the savannah during the dry season. It is enough for them to see smoke, as birds from everywhere begin to flock to the conflagration, concentrating behind the wall of fire. They walk on the still-smoking burnt stems and catch insects. Sometimes hundreds of birds gather at such fires. Storks also fly in on a freshly plowed field, collecting worms and insect larvae.
Another hunting option is waiting for prey, which is typical for herons. The stork is able to guard near the mouse hole, waiting for one of its inhabitants to put forward its nose. As a rule, the duration of such waiting does not exceed a few minutes, but once a bird was observed that “watched” a mouse hole for 20 minutes. In muddy shallow waters, the stork often hunts “by touch”: it leads the water with its beak, quickly closing and opening it until it comes across a tadpole or something else. He collects earthworms by probing the soft ground with his beak. A stork can also catch flying prey, such as dragonflies or other insects. Sometimes even knocks them down with wings. When kept in captivity, he quickly learns to grab food thrown to him with his beak, as dogs do.
Among the insects in the stork's diet, there are such dangerous pests as the Kuzka beetle, the bug-turtle, various beetles, and the beet weevil. But most of all he loves the so-called orthoptera. These include grasshoppers, crickets, spinning tops and the notorious locust. On wintering grounds in Africa, storks eat so many locusts that in the languages of a number of African tribes, the white stork is called “locust eater”, or “locust bird”. The glory of the exterminator of this dangerous pest is so fixed on him that in Afrikaans (the language of the white population of the Republic of South Africa) even one of the official scientific names of the white stork is “large locust bird”. However, it is justified to some extent for Ukraine. In the past, there were many devastating "raids" of locusts on the southern provinces. Even now, despite the huge arsenal of chemical means of combat and the use of aviation, in a matter of days it can turn flowering lands into a barren desert. One can imagine what a disaster the locust was for the peasants in the past.
The stork does not give way to another "favorite" of the peasants - a spinning top or "cabbage". Having a garden, can tell a lot about it. As studies have shown in various European countries, from Spain to the former USSR, spinning tops make up from 5-10% to a third in the stork's diet in summer. Ornithologist A.P. Nettle studied the diet of the white stork in Belovezhskaya Pushcha. It turned out that in the food that adult birds brought to their chicks, spinning tops made up about 8% by number and almost 14% by weight. In one portion brought to the connector, there were as many as 113 bears! In the Masurian Lake District (Poland), 31% of the white stork contained the remains of click beetle larvae (wireworms), 14% of weevils, and 16% of spinning tops.
In years with outbreaks of mouse-like rodents, they are eaten in large numbers not only by white storks, but also by black storks, which feed mainly on small fish and other aquatic animals. So, according to F.I. Strautman, in 1946, in the Irshava district of the Transcarpathian region, during a surge in the number of mouse-like rodents, several specimens of mice and voles were found in the stomachs of hunted black storks.
The hunting efficiency of storks is quite good. According to estimates made in Poland, one bird caught 44 mice, 2 young hamsters and one frog in an hour, the second caught 25-30 crickets per minute! Conducted by scientists, continuous observations of one stork showed that he caught at least 1037 different animals over 10.5 hours, an average of 1.6 per minute. The hunting success of birds depends on the conditions of the area and the type of prey, but on average, about half of the attacks are effective.
The daily requirement of an adult stork is about 700 grams of food. In the summer, in order to feed themselves and raise an ever-hungry crowd of chicks, birds have to search for prey for almost the entire daylight hours. According to Polish ornithologists, the stork family medium size- a pair of adult birds and 2-3 babies - consumes about 2.5 centners of food during the period of feeding the chicks. To raise offspring, storks must receive daily about one and a half kilograms of earthworms, a kilogram of frogs, or 700 grams of small rodents.
Apparently, it was not in vain that a belief arose among the people that a village in which many storks nest might not particularly worry about a good harvest. According to scientists, it was the destruction of locusts and many other dangerous pests that was one of the reasons why in the distant past the stork was respected as a sacred bird.
V.M.Gryshchenko (www.birdlife.org.ua)
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 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 black stork had the worst of it, 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, means vigilance and foresight, as it sleeps on one leg and is always ready to wake up and start 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.
Life span of storks different sources 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 preferences. The most predatory is the white stork, which eats small mammals (including gophers and hares) with pleasure, 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 birds' favorite food is earthworms, leaf wasp larvae, mole crickets 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.
A 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 different types represents 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 him 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. Separate types 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.
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.
