Where do storks live? White stork: the famous bird of Russian nature

"Where the babies come from?" - this question, sounding from the lips of precious children, invariably baffles their parents. And if some adults try to use sparing methods to convey reliable information to the little ones, others begin to tell tales. The latter includes the well-known story of the stork. But in this article we will not talk about her at all, but directly about the "delivery man" of the babies. The appearance of this bird is well known to both adults and children. But at the same time it is often confused with another representative of the order of storks - herons. And not in vain, because there are many similarities between them. We will talk about how the stork differs from the heron.

Definitions

Stork Is a large migratory bird with long legs, neck and beak. It has large beautiful wings, the span of which can reach up to two meters. Belongs to the stork family of the ankle order. These birds are excellent flyers; they migrate long distances every year. Representatives of the family are found on all continents, but are most common in countries of the tropical zone, in hot and temperate latitudes. The most famous of them is the white stork, which has a lifespan of about 20 years. Its wings are covered with white at the base and black at the edges of the plumage. When choosing a habitat, birds give preference to open spaces and areas close to water bodies. Their diet includes mainly small vertebrates. However, storks will also not refuse from snakes, vipers, frogs and toads. Worms, beetles, lizards, moles, ground squirrels, small fish - the menu of these birds, picky about food, is so varied.

Heron- a large wading bird of the order of storks with long legs and an elongated neck curved in the shape of the letter S. Inhabits Europe, Asia, North Africa... Tied to bodies of water, but perfectly adapts to a wide variety of conditions. Birds living in cold regions fly south for the winter and return in mid-spring. They mainly nest in colonies. They are active not only in the daytime, but also at night. The most common representative of the species is recognized gray heron... The bird feeds exclusively on animal food. Being a very agile predator, it eats everyone with whom it is able to cope. In connection with the binding of the heron to water bodies, the basis of its diet is fish, various small vertebrates, molluscs, crustaceans. In large enough quantities, birds also eat land animals: rodents, lizards, snakes, etc.

Comparison

It is worth noting that the individuals of interest to us are very significantly different from each other. We will consider the most significant differentiating factors. Start with the fact that characteristic feature The heron has an S-shaped neck. In the case of a stork, it is absolutely straight. This bird is somewhat larger than its relative, its average height is 120 cm, and its weight reaches 4 kg. Herons are more graceful representatives of the fauna, constantly grooming themselves. Along the perimeter of their body, there are small feathers - powders. They are very fragile and crumble easily. These small powder-like particles are sprinkled on themselves from time to time by the herons. But this is not the end of the "marafet" guidance procedure. Then the bird begins to "comb" with the help of a special finger with a serrated claw, which serves as a comb. It is worth noting that storks are not so attentive to their appearance... Powders and an elongated finger with a claw are absent. As for the size of the heron, its average growth is 100 cm, and its weight is 1.5-2 kg.

Let's talk about the habitat and lifestyle of birds. Herons settle mainly in slow-flowing and swampy bodies of water, making them excellent swimmers. They hunt, standing in shallow water, carefully looking out for prey around them. Thus, they give preference to fish and other aquatic inhabitants. Birds are active not only in the daytime, but also at night. Herons also nest near swamps, choosing places hidden from prying eyes for this: flooded bushes, thickets of reeds or reeds. They place a refuge for future chicks right on the ground. Since the birds are rather shy, the birds settle far from people. It is worth mentioning that they have a rather loud and harsh voice, which is often given during the flight.

The difference between a stork and a heron is that the first representative of the fauna world prefers to live and nest on open spaces... He often places his dwelling on hills, whether it be tree branches or rooftops. This bird cannot be called shy; it often settles in the immediate vicinity of people. Storks are not attached to water bodies. They grab food from the ground right on the go. As a rule, various rodents, invertebrates and reptiles act in its role. Storks cannot swim and are practically voiceless. Instead of screaming, they bang loudly with their beak. The birds are inactive at night.

To summarize, what is the difference between a stork and a heron.

These feathered creatures have always amazed those around them with their amazing grace: a long flexible neck, impressive, thin legs that raise them high above the ground, one meter and taller (although female individuals are a little smaller than their males).

Stork – bird, which has a conical shape, pointed, long and straight beak. The feathery outfit of such winged creatures is not replete bright colors, it is white with black padding. True, in some species the black color predominates over the white areas.

The wings are impressive in size, with a span of about two meters. The head and majestic neck have interesting - naked, completely without feathers, areas covered only by the skin of red, in some cases yellow and other shades, depending on the variety.

The legs are also bare, and the reticulated skin on them is red. Bird's toes, equipped with membranes, end in small claws pink shade.

Such birds belong to the order of storks by biologists, which is also called in another way: ankles. And all of its representatives are members of the vast family of storks. The only pity is that for all their beauty, these representatives of the feathered kingdom do not have a pleasant voice, but communicate with each other, clicking their beak and emitting a hiss.

What a bird is a stork: migratory or not? It all depends on the area that such birds choose as a habitat. These graceful creatures are found in many areas of Eurasia. And with the onset of cold weather, they usually go to winter in African lands or in the vast in size and famous for the excellent climate of the region of India.

It happens that storks choose favorable regions of the south of Asia for resettlement. Those of them that settle on warmer continents, for example, in or South, do without winter flights.

Views

The genus of these birds includes about 12 species. Their representatives are in many ways similar. However, they are endowed with differences in the size and color of the feather cover, but not only. They are also different in character, habits and attitude towards a person.

Distinctive features appearance can be observed storks in the photo.

Let's take a closer look at some of the varieties:

• White stork- one of the most numerous types. Adults can reach a height of 120 cm and a weight of about 4 kg. The color of their feathers is almost completely snow-white, while the beak and legs are red.

Only the feathers bordering the wings are black, therefore, when folded, they create the impression of darkness in the back of the body, for which such winged creatures in Ukraine received the nickname "black-noses".

They nest in many regions of Eurasia. They are widespread in Belarus, even considered its symbol. For wintering, birds usually fly to African countries and India. To people White stork treats with confidence, and such representatives of the winged kingdom very often build their nests in the immediate vicinity of their homes.

White stork

• The Far Eastern stork, sometimes also called the Chinese and black-billed stork, belongs to rare species and is protected in, as well as in Japan and China. Such birds nest on the Korean Peninsula, in Primorye and Amur region, in the eastern and northern regions of China, in Mongolia.

They prefer wetlands, trying to stay away from people. With the onset of winter, birds go to more favorable areas, most often to the south of China, where they spend their days in swamps, as well as rice fields, where they can easily find food for themselves.

These birds are larger than the white stork. Their beak is also much more massive and has a black color. Around the eyes, an attentive observer can notice red patches of bare skin.

It is distinguished from other relatives of the Far Eastern by a black beak

• Black stork- a poorly studied species, although numerous. Lives and lives sedentary in Africa. On the territory of Eurasia, it is distributed quite widely, especially in the reserves of Belarus, it lives in abundance in the Primorsky Territory.

For wintering from unfavorable areas, birds can go to southern Asia. Representatives of this species are somewhat smaller than those of the previously described varieties. They weigh about 3 kg.

The shade of the feathers of these birds, as the name implies, is black, but with a slightly noticeable copper or greenish tint. Only the belly, undertail and underside of the chest are white in such birds. The periocular areas and beak are red.

The birds of this species nest in deep forests, most often near small reservoirs and swamps, in some cases in mountains.

Black stork

• The white-bellied stork is a small creature in comparison with its relatives. These are birds weighing only about a kilogram. They live mainly in Africa and live there sedentary.

They have white underwings and chest, which is in great contrast with the black feather of the rest of the body. And the latter became the reason for the name of the species. Shade stork beak this variety is gray-brown.

And in the mating season at the beak at its base, the skin becomes bright blue, which is characteristic feature such birds. They nest in trees and in rocky coastal areas. This happens during the rainy season, for which the representatives of the described species are nicknamed by the local population rain storks.

White-bellied stork small representative of the family

• The white-necked stork is found in different areas Asia and Africa, taking root well in tropical forests. The growth of birds is usually no more than 90 cm. The background color is mainly black with a tinge of red, wings with a greenish tint.

As the name implies, the neck is white, but it looks like a black cap on the head.

White-necked stork has white downy neck plumage

• The American stork lives in the southern part of the named continent. These birds are not very large sizes... In plumage color and appearance, they resemble a white stork, differing from it only in the shape of a forked black tail.

Older individuals are distinguished by a grayish-blue beak. Such birds nest near reservoirs in thickets of bushes. Their clutch consists of a very small number (most often about three pieces) of eggs, which is not enough in comparison with other varieties of stork congeners.

The newly born offspring are covered with white fluff, and only after three months the cubs in color and feather structure become similar to adults.

Pictured is an American stork

• The woolly-necked Malay stork is a very rare, almost endangered species. In addition to the country indicated in the name, such birds live in Thailand, Sumatra, Indonesia, and other islands and countries similar in climate.

Usually they behave carefully, with extreme caution, hiding from human eyes. They have a special charcoal feather color, their faces are naked and covered only with orange skin, without plumage.

Around the eyes are yellow circles resembling glasses. Unlike many other stork species, representatives of this species build small nests. In them, only two cubs grow from one clutch. After a month and a half of growth, the chicks of this species become completely independent.

Woolly-necked Malay stork is the rarest of the family

Lifestyle and habitat

These birds choose meadow lowlands and marshlands for life. Storks usually do not form large flocks, preferring solitude or life in small groups. The exception is the wintering period, then the societies in which such birds gather can number up to several thousand individuals.

An interesting fact is that during long flights, storks are even able to sleep in the air. At the same time, the breathing and pulse of these living beings becomes less frequent. But their hearing in this state only becomes more sensitive, which is necessary for the birds so as not to get lost and not fight off the flock of their relatives.

For this type of rest in flight, a quarter of an hour is enough for birds, after which they wake up, and their organisms return to a normal state.

During long flights, storks are able to fall asleep in flight without losing their "course"

When communicating with each other, storks are not characterized by sentiment, because these graceful, beautiful-looking birds kill sick and weakened relatives without any pity. Although from a practical point of view, such behavior is very reasonable and contributes to healthy natural selection.

It is interesting that in the works of writers of antiquity and the Middle Ages stork often presented as the personification of caring for parents. Legends are widespread that such birds touchingly care for elderly individuals when they lose the ability to take care of themselves on their own.

Food

Despite their beauty, storks are very dangerous for many living creatures, because they are birds of prey... Frogs are considered their biggest delicacy. Like a heron stork-like bird even outwardly, they feed on many creatures living in water bodies, catching them in shallow water.

They love fish very much. Their varied diet also includes shellfish. In addition, storks love to feast on large insects; on land they catch lizards and snakes, even poisonous snakes. It is curious that these birds pose a serious threat to small mammals such as ground squirrels, moles, mice, and rats.

All of these are also included in their diet. Storks can even eat rabbits.

These birds are extremely skilled hunters. It is important that they walk back and forth on their long legs, they do not just walk, but hunt down the desired prey. When the victim appears in their field of vision, the birds with liveliness and dexterity run up to it and grab it with their strong long beak.

Such birds feed their cubs by half-digested belching, and when the offspring grows up a little, the parents throw them directly into the mouth of the rainwater birds.

Fish and frogs are storks' favorite treats

Reproduction and life expectancy

The nests of storks of most of the common species build gigantic and wide, so much so that along the edges of them such small birdies as sparrows and starlings often manage to equip their chicks.

Such roomy structures serve for more than one year, often being passed on to subsequent generations. And these birds choose a place for the construction of a dwelling place for their chicks for a long time. There is a known case in Germany when white storks used one nest, twisted on a tower, for four centuries.

These are monogamous winged creatures, and the resulting family unions of such birds are not destroyed throughout their lives. Couples loyal to each other, participate in the construction of nests, incubate and feed offspring with enviable unanimity, sharing all the hardships of this process among themselves.

True, mating rituals, depending on the variety, are distinguished by features, as well as the order in which the male chooses his companion. For example, among the gentlemen of white storks, it is customary to choose the first female who flew up to his nest as their spouse.

Further, the new hostess lays eggs in an amount of up to seven pieces. Then incubation lasts about a month, and up to two months - the period of nestling. To sick and weak cubs, parents usually turn out to be cruel, throwing them out of the nest without pity.

After 55 days from the moment of birth, the first emergence of young animals usually occurs. And after a couple of weeks, the chicks become so adult that they are ready to exist on their own. A new generation grows up by the fall, and then family of storks disintegrates.

Within a month, the chicks acquire plumage, and after another month they try their first flights.

Youngsters, maturing purely physically, are ready to have their offspring at the age of approximately three years... And after a year or two, sometimes after three, they create their own family unions.

The lifespan of such birds in natural conditions comes to 20 years. However, in captivity, this period can be significantly increased with satisfactory care and maintenance.

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 mainly white, only the ends of the wings are shiny, black.

Storks live where there are vast damp meadows, swamps and stagnant bodies of water. They make nests on the roofs of houses, in trees located in villages or close to them. Lately, storks have been making nests on supports. high voltage lines, on factory pipes. If there are few places suitable for nesting, fights arise between the birds. The same pair of storks can live in the nest for several years.

Storks have large nests, a meter or more in diameter. The construction of the nest takes up to 10 days. Occasionally, white storks build a second nest, which serves them for sleeping or as a sentry post.

In winter, storks fly away to warmer regions. Old birds start their journey earlier or later than young ones, but they never fly with them. Shortly before departure, white storks gather in flocks, during wintering they sometimes keep in thousands of clusters. The flight begins at the end of August, sometimes dragging on until October. Birds fly during the day and at high altitudes.

White storks feed on animal food, eat frogs, lizards, various insects, molluscs, fish and small mice, little hares and speckled ground squirrels. During feeding, storks walk slowly, but, having noticed prey, they can quickly run up to it.

Many peoples of the world revere this unusual stately 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 will nest, happiness will reign, children will grow healthy, a vegetable garden and a garden will give a bountiful harvest. People believe that these birds are well versed in people: they build nests only near the houses of those who are worthy of happiness. If you destroy the nest or kill the bird, then misfortune will come to the house.

If the stork himself left the nest on the roof and moved the chicks, there will be a fire in the house or lightning will hit it.

There is 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 the top of the mountain. The man, out of curiosity, untied the sack, and all the evil spirits spread over the ground. Then, as a punishment, God turned man into a stork so that he would cleanse the earth of reptiles - snakes, hedgehogs. The stork's nose and legs were red in shame.

It is believed that storks have a human soul, understand human language, cry with 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 only the construction of a nest, which reaches enormous dimensions: 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, well-being, wealth and the birth of new offspring. Earlier, 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 the construction of a future nest. Couples without children hoped that with the appearance on the roof, long-awaited children would appear in their house.

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 zoologist Alfred Bram in the 19th century noticed that storks carefully choose a place to build a nest. Before building a nest on the roof, they observe 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 hot or temperate climates.

For the winter, birds fly to India and Africa. It is noteworthy that white storks go 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 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 a great height, since they have adapted to use aerodynamic currents to their advantage, thereby conserving strength. The flight takes place during the daytime, and the storks rest at night. White storks try not to fly over the seas.

The storks return back at the beginning of March, upon arrival they immediately begin the 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 mistress forever. Sometimes several females claim for one nest at once, males do not interfere in such disputes and the “ladies” sort things out themselves.

The male invites the winner into the nest, throwing back his neck and making clacking sounds with his beak. The female does the same as the male. The couple uses one nest for the rest of their lives. Quite often, the next owner of the nest is one of the offspring of the pair. 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 encroach on him, who do not want to spend energy on building their own dwellings. It is noteworthy that small birds, for example, 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 there can be from 1 to 7. Both the father and mother are engaged in incubation: the female incubates the offspring at night, and the male - during the day. A month later, 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 baby storks have excellent eyesight, so they dig in the nest and find various worms.

The stork is a rather large bird with high legs and a 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 are shiny black. When a bird has folded its wings, 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 hibernate in the warm regions of India and Africa. Storks live in swampy areas, in low-lying meadows. They can also be found near a person's dwelling. They are not afraid of people. Storks nest on rooftops, in trees. The nests they built serve them for many years. After wintering, white birds arrive at their former nesting site. Male storks are always the first to arrive. They repair their nests while waiting for their "spouses". The older the nest, the more powerful and larger it is in circumference. Storks live for about 20-22 years. And by the end of their lives, their nests weigh about one 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, gophers. Adult storks feed small chicks with earthworms, grasshoppers, May beetles. BUT clean water they bring it in their beak and pour it into the little beaks of their babies. After two months, the chicks of storks are looking for their own food.

A selection of photos and pictures of storks