Stork white - a bird of happiness

Storks belong to the group of stork-like family of stork, to which are also herons and ibises. The most famous representative of this family is the white stork. He is known by numerous legends and legends.

From time immemorial the white stork was considered a revered bird, it was associated with luck, prosperity and happiness. A white stork is associated with a large number of legends and legends in Europe and the East, where he acts as the guardian of the family hearth and the defender of the evil spirit. Previously, it was believed that the arriving stork contributes to the appearance in the family of the long-awaited child, so the children relied on the help of childless families.

In connection with the reduction of vocal cords in adult storks, there is practically no voice. Most often you can hear the click of a beak, used for greetings. Stork white - the bird is beautiful and large enough, its mass can reach four kilograms. The wing span is up to 205 centimeters, and the length of the body can reach 120 centimeters. A white stork has a long neck, long paws and a long beak. The feathering of males and females (the females are slightly smaller in size than the males) are the same: they are covered with white feathers, except for black wings. According to folk legends, God endowed the stork with white plumage, and the devil with black wings, so he symbolizes the eternal struggle between good and evil. White storks live quite a long time, their average life expectancy can be up to 20 years.

The main area of bird distribution is the Iberian Peninsula, the whole of Europe, as well as North Africa and Asia. Winter white storks in India and the African continent hibernate, and many birds from Central Europe are sent to Asia . During the spring flight they have to fly 200 kilometers a day. The main migration routes of white storks are flights through the Mediterranean Sea, the Straits of Gibraltar, the Bosporus and the Suez Isthmus. There you can see huge accumulations of white storks at high altitude in spring and autumn.

The basis for feeding white storks are various invertebrates and small vertebrates, which they extract on land and in water. Small mammals, amphibians, reptiles, fish and insects are food that this bird loves. The white stork eats even small ones, which causes its predatory nature. Often storks use inedible objects mistaken for food, which leads to a blockage in the digestive tract and death.

The main place of settlement of white storks are roofs of houses, outbuildings, rarely - rocks and trees. Many white storks use the same nests for more than a century, passing them from generation to generation. They bravely defend their nests and chicks from other birds. To build a new nest, the bird takes more than a week, so the white stork often repairs the old place of the settlement. The nest can reach impressive sizes. Typically, the clutch contains four or five eggs. White storks hatch eggs alternately, and in a month hatchling chicks hatch, which become independent at the age of 70 days.

At present, the number of white storks decreases every year due to the chemicalization and intensification of agricultural products, as a result of which there is a reduction in the feed base of birds.