All About Storks!

For this European tour our nature focus was on storks. Alsace, the easternmost province of France, is the only French province that is graced by their presence. 

(Enjoy photos of stork sanctuary in Hunawihr.) But just like in school, for now you need to know something about this wonderful big bird.)

Their numbers are counted in “pairs” because they wed for life, so double the count below & you’ll have the approximate population in each European country. I have starred those countries with more than 10,000 pairs.  

Drawing by Hansi,  Alsatian patriot who migrated into France when Alsace was occupied by Germany in the 1870's 

1. Latvia: 10,700* 

2. Russia: 10,200*

3. Belarus: 20,432*

4. Ukraine: 30,000*

5. Poland: 52,000*

6. Romania: 5,500

7. Bulgaria: 4,956

8. Turkey: 6,195

9. Greece: 2,139

10. Hungary: 5,300

11. Slovakia: 1,330

12. Czech Republic: 814

13. Croatia: 1,700

14. Austria: 392

15.  Germany: 4,482

16. Netherlands: 528

17. France (Alsace) 973

18. Spain 33,217*

19. Portugal: 7,684

20. Little Slovenia (about) 1,000

Storks are one of the most beloved species on the planet. In all these countries the couple may build a huge nest on any rooftop, chimney, or smokestack and graze in any field it chooses. I dread to think what would happen if someone dared to shoot a stork! 

Mother Stork nurturing her one-and-only in the Stork Sanctuary in  the town of Hunawihr in Alsace

We cannot know when the great love for the stork began. It was probably before written history. In its chosen countries where winters are harsh, people longed to see the return of the Great Birds because they were a harbinger of spring. Hence, a stork became a symbol for many good things. Foremost it represents love & fidelity because storks only have one partner for a lifetime. It is a symbol of fertility because its return coincides with the new planting of crops. Storks are a symbol of unity and loyalty because they are part of a specific stork flock which grazes and migrates together.  Quite simply they are beloved because they love us. Big Bird is completely sociable. It doesn’t seem to mind being physically close to humans, although allowing us to pet him or eating out of our hands is something he doesn’t do. We observed their huge nests in high places in cities and villages. Their graceful, gliding flight is not rare and sometimes it makes a cross-shaped shadow on the earth below. They have a job to do for farmers who welcome them to eat the crop pests: frogs, snails, small rodents, and insects.  

Storks have no voice. They cannot chirp or sing. They click. They hit their beaks together very fast to produce different kinds of communication by loudness & length.  

Storks begin their migration in September to reach their winter range in sub-Sahara Africa. They fly first over the Strait of Gibraltar (western route) or the eastern countries of the Mediterranean (eastern route) They congregate in Egypt and follow the Nile Valley on to Kenya, Uganda, & other western African countries. Their stay in Africa is fraught with dangers as beasts of prey and even hungry humans will eat them. Europeans wrang their hands when they discovered in the 1980‘s that with each return many storks were missing. Hence, there is a reason for stork sanctuaries & the desire to stifle migration. 

Explanation: Storks, with a wingspan of 6+ feet, will not fly over the Mediterranean Sea because their flight, mostly gliding, depends on floating upon thermal hot-air masses which the sea doesn’t have. They completely avoid the Sahara where there is no food… & it is too hot....even for a stork.

Storks "working hard" in a field in Slovakia

More on reproduction etc….

Storks have only one mate for life….unless one dies. Then, the survivor may take another mate. Storks are attached to their nests as much as they are attached to their mates. The nests can be more than 6 feet wide and reach a depth of 10 feet, weigh up to 600 lbs., & last for many years. Storks, like humans, only produce one offspring at a time: one egg is produced every 30-plus days. In other words only one little storklet is nurtured at a time before the next little storklet may hatch. A couple produces on average 4 storklets per season. Storks can live into their late 30’s. 

The Stork Myth

The stork has forever delivered baby humans to their families in stork lands. We have no idea when or why this myth originated, but it is still around and has even been imported to the New World. How many times is the stork invoked for a new arrival on birth announcement cards or even in front yard signs? 

The essence of the myth is this: A stork treat is left on the window sill, or any other appropriate place where the stork will find & eat it. Each time the treater accompanies the gesture with a wish for a boy or girl. In return the stork brings the baby when it is due. Now isn’t that just the sweetest? So much for western Europeans & their stories about babies coming from cabbages. 

End-of-school excursion at the Hunawihr Sanctuary: lunchtime 

JJ’s Myth

Now, JJ says that the stork has been such a noble bird that indeed he sets the best example in all these storklands for something toward which all humans can aspire. For this reason, despite the fact that they are separated by language, culture, history, & politics, they are united in their love & protection of the stork.  

More from JJ…who is obsessed by les cigognes.

He insists that storks were the geographically unifying aspect of our trip. As you will note I took photos of storks in Alsace at the sanctuary and then in the “wild” feeding in a field in Slovakia. According to him, there is a symbiotic relationship between storks & humans. He says that humans place a big round stone platform for the stork nests on specifically safe places on a roof--mostly houses & churches. The storks, of course, somehow understand that this big round thing is the foundation for their new nest. Hence, there is a competition between villages to attract stork nests onto houses and churches by placing these nest-supports. (I kid you not!) Traditionally, the presence of many storks in a community meant that it was an open & friendly town; hence, mayoral candidates would always promise to add more nests around town. 

Now, Italy is the only country that doesn’t have storks & paradoxically is surrounded by all the countries that do. This is because the Italians have too many hills & mountains--a righteous reason, but also, because some very naughty hunters close to the Alps have killed them for game -- a far more sinister reason. Gee! I can only imagine that this would have been for sport because stork probably tastes like crow.