The white stork ( Ciconia ciconia ) is a large bird in the Cyloniidae family of storks. Its feathers are mainly white, with black wings. Adults have long red legs and long red beaks, and measure an average of 100-115 cm (39-45 inches) from the tip of the beak to the tip of the tail, with a wingspan of 155-215 cm (61-85 inches). The two subspecies, slightly different in size, breed in Europe (north to Finland), northwest Africa, southwest Asia (east to southern Kazakhstan) and southern Africa. White storks are long-distance migrants, winter in Africa from tropical sub-Saharan Africa to the south as far south as South Africa, or in the Indian subcontinent. When migrating between Europe and Africa, it avoids crossing the Mediterranean Sea and rotates through the Levant to the east or the Strait of Gibraltar to the west, because the thermal air that relies for soaring does not form on the water.
A carnivore, a white heron feeds on a variety of prey animals, including insects, fish, amphibians, reptiles, small mammals, and small birds. It takes up most of its food from the soil, between low vegetation, and from shallow water. This is a monogamous rancher, but not in pairs for life. Both members of the couple build a large stick nest, which can be used for several years. Each year the female can put a clutch of normally four eggs, which hatch asynchronously 33-34 days after being laid. Both parents took turns incubating eggs and feeding the children. The young leave the nest 58-64 days after hatching, and continue to be fed by parents for 7-20 days.
White stork has been rated as the least noticed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It benefited from human activity during the Middle Ages because the forest had been cleared, but changes in agricultural methods and industrialization saw it decline and disappear from parts of Europe in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Conservation and reintroduction programs throughout Europe have resulted in breeding of white storks in the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland and Sweden. It has several natural predators, but may have several types of parasites; feathers are home to chew mites and mites, while large nests maintain a variety of mesostigmatic mites. This striking species has spawned many legends throughout its ranks, the most famous of which is the story of a baby carried by a heron.
Video White stork
Taxonomy and evolution
British naturalist Francis Willughby wrote of a white stork in the 17th century, after seeing pictures sent to him by his friend and natural history buff, Sir Thomas Brown of Norwich. He named it Ciconia alba . They noted that they were occasional vagrants to England, blown by storms. It is one of many bird species originally described by Linnaeus in the tenth edition of 1758 of Systema Naturae , where it is named binomial Ardea ciconia . It has been reclassified to (and specified species species) of the new genus Ciconia by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760. Both the genus and the specific epithet, c? C? Nia , is the Latin word for "stork", originally recorded in Horace and Ovid. The Latin word survives in most Roman languages ​​( cicogna , cigÃÆ'¼eÃÆ' Â ± a , cegonha and the like). The word stork is derived from the Old English storc , and appears in the 10th century working with Erfurt Glossary , where it is equated with > Ciconia , and Aelfric's Homilies . The word is related to Old High German storah , "stork", and similar words in many other European languages, all of which are from the German
There are two subspecies:
- C. c. ciconia, subspecies nominees described by Linnaeus in 1758, breed from Europe to northwestern Africa and western Asia, and in southern Africa, and winter especially in southern Africa of the Sahara Desert, although some winter birds in India. li>
- C. c. asiatica , described by Russian naturalist Nikolai Severtzov in 1873, breeds in Turkestan and winters from Iran to India. This is slightly larger than the subspecies that run.
The heron family contains six genera in three large groups: open and wooden heron ( Mycteria and Anastomus ), giant heron ( Ephippiorhynchus , Jabiru and Leptoptilos ), and the "typical" stork, Ciconia . Typical sharks include white storks and six other species that still exist, characterized by a straight beak and especially black and white feathers. His closest relative is the bigger and black Oriental white stork ( Ciconia boyciana ) from East Asia, previously classified as a subspecies of the white stork, and the maguari crane ( C. Ã, maguari ) from South America. The close relationship of evolution in Ciconia is suggested by behavioral similarity and, biochemically, through analysis of both the cytochondrial gene sequence of cytochrome b and the hybridization of DNA-DNA.
The Ciconia fossil representing the distal end of the right humerus has been found from the Miocene bed on Rusinga Island, Lake Victoria, Kenya. This 24-6 million year old fossil can originate either from a white stork or a black crane ( C. nigra ), which is a species of similar size to a very similar bone structure. The Miocene Central Bed of Maboko Island has produced further remnants.
Maps White stork
Description
White stork is a big bird. Has a length of 100-115 cm (39-45 inches), and standing height 100-125 cm (39-49 inches). The wingspan is 155-215 cm (61-85 inches) and its weight is 2.3-4.5 kg (5.1-9.9 pounds). Like any other crane, it has long legs, a long neck, and a long, straight beak. The sexes are identical in appearance, except that men are larger than the average female. The feathers are mainly white with black flying feathers and wing covers; black is caused by melanin pigment. Long, hairy feathers form a ruff that is used in some courtship look. The iris is dull brown or gray, and the black orbita skin is black. Adults have a bright red and red beak, a staining that comes from carotenoids in the diet. In parts of Spain, studies have shown that the pigment is based on astaxanthin obtained from introduced lobster species ( Procambarus clarkii ) and bright red-colored colors appear even in the nest, in contrast to the boring young white crane's beak at another place.
Like other storks, the wings are long and wide so that the bird can fly. In flight flapping its wings slow and regular. The fly flies with its neck stretched forward and with its long legs extending far past the end of its short tail. Walk at a slow and steady pace with outstretched neck. Instead, often bending his head between his shoulders while resting. Moulting has not been extensively studied, but seems to occur throughout the year, with major flight feathers replaced during the breeding season.
After hatching, the young white stork is partially covered with short, rare, whitish hairs. This initial reduction was replaced about a week later with a thicker, white bottom layer. At three weeks, this young bird gets a black scapula and feather flying. On hatching girls have pink legs, which turn grayish black when aging. Its beak is black with a brownish tip. At the time the bird flies, teen bird feathers are similar to adult birds, though their black feathers are often stained with brown, and their beak and brownish-red or brown eyes. Its beak is usually orange or red with a darker tip. The bill gets the adult red color the following summer, though the black tip persists in some individuals. Younger storks adopt adult fur on their second summer.
Similar species
In its reach the white stork is typical when seen on the ground. Winter range C. c. asiatica overlaps with Asia openbill, which has similar feathers but different bill forms. When viewed from a distance, white storks can be confused with several other species with the same pattern as yellow cranes, big white pelicans and Egyptian vultures. The yellow-billed stork is identified by its black tail and longer beak, slightly curved, yellow. White storks also tend to be bigger than yellow-billed storks. The big white pelican had a short leg that did not widen outside his tail, and he flew with his neck pulled back, keeping his head close to a stocky body, giving him a different flight profile. Pelicans also behave differently, soaring sequentially, synchronizing livestock rather than in an irregular group of individuals as the white crane does. Egyptian herring is much smaller, with a long wedge-shaped tail, shorter legs and a small yellow head on a short neck. Common cranes, which can also look black and white in strong light, show longer legs and longer necks in flight.
Distribution and habitat
The race of white heron nominees has a wide span of summits although split across Europe, clustered in the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa in the west, and much of eastern and central Europe, with 25% of the world population concentrated in Poland, also as part of western Asia. The population of asiatica of about 1450 birds is restricted to areas in Central Asia between the Aral Sea and Xinjiang in western China. The Xinjiang population is believed to have gone extinct around 1980. The migratory route extends the range of this species to many parts of Africa and India. Some populations follow the route of eastern migration, which crosses Israel into eastern and central Africa.
Several records of breeding from South Africa have been known since 1933 at Calitzdorp, and about 10 birds have been known to breed since the 1990s around Bredasdorp. The small white heron population of India and is thought to have come from a population of
The preferred places of whites for white cranes are grassy meadows, farmland and shallow wetlands. This avoids areas overgrown with tall grass and bushes. In the Chernobyl area of ​​northern Ukraine, the white heron population declined after the 1986 nuclear accident there when farmland was replaced by a high grass bush. In parts of Poland, natural foraging places have forced birds to search for food in landfills since 1999. White cranes are also reportedly foraging in landfills in the Middle East, North Africa and South Africa.
White storks multiply larger in areas with open grasslands, especially wet grass or flooding periodically, and less in areas with higher vegetation cover such as forests and shrubs. They use grasslands, wetlands, and farmland on winter ground in Africa. White storks may be aided by human activity during the Middle Ages when forests have been cleared and new grassland and farmland created, and they are found in many parts of Europe, breeding as far as Sweden. The population in Sweden is thought to have formed in the 16th century after forests were cleared for agriculture. Approximately 5,000 pairs are estimated to breed in the 18th century which then declines. The first accurate census in 1917 found 25 pairs and the last pair failed to breed around 1955. White crane is a rare visitor in the British Isles, as about 20 birds are seen in England every year, but no nesting records. A pair lodged above St Giles High Kirk in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1416.
Population decline began in the 19th century due to industrialization and changes in agricultural methods. White cranes are no longer nested in many countries, and western residency fortifications are currently in Portugal, Spain, Ukraine and Poland. In the Iberian Peninsula, populations are concentrated in the southwest, and also decline due to agricultural practices. A study published in 2005 found that the Podhale region in the southern highlands of Poland has seen the entry of the white stork, which was first raised there in 1931 and lodged at ever higher altitudes since, reaching 890 m (3,000 ft) in 1999 The authors propose that this is related to climate warming and the entry of animals and other plants to higher altitudes. White stork arrived in Pozna? provinces (Great Polish Provinces) in western Poland in the spring to breed it about 10 days earlier in the last twenty years of the 20th century than at the end of the 19th century.
Migration
The systematic study of white heron migration began with the German bird expert Johannes Thienemann who began bird research in 1906 at the Rossitten Bird Observatory, at Curonian Spit in East Prussia. Although not many storks pass through Rossitten itself, the observatory coordinates the large-scale ringing of species throughout Germany and elsewhere in Europe. Between 1906 and the Second World War about 100,000, especially young storks, white rang, with over 2,000 long-distance remedies of birds wearing Rossitten rings reported between 1908 and 1954.
Route
White storks fly south from their summer breeding spots in Europe in August and September, heading for Africa. There, they spend the winter in the grasslands of Kenya and southern Uganda to the Cape Province of South Africa. In these areas they gather in large groups that can exceed a thousand people. Some deviate westward to western Sudan and Chad, and possibly reach Nigeria. In spring, the birds return north; they were recorded from Sudan and Egypt from February to April. They arrive back in Europe around the end of March and April, after a median journey of 49 days. By comparison, autumn travel is over in about 26 days. Tailwinds and scarcity of food and water on the way (birds fly faster over resource-poor areas) increase average speed.
To avoid the long sea across the Mediterranean, birds from Central Europe followed the eastern route of migration by crossing the Bosphorus Strait to Turkey, crossing the Levant, then passing through the Sahara Desert by following the Nile valley to the south, or following the west route across the Strait of Gibraltar. This migration corridor maximizes thermal relief and thus saves energy. The eastern route is much more important with 530,000 white storks using it every year, making the second most common migrant species there (after European honey calls). Migratory migratory herds, white storks and large white pelicans can stretch for 200 km (125 mi). The eastern route is twice as long as the west, but the heron takes the same time to reach the winter terrain as well.
Young white storks leave on their first southern migration in the inherited direction but, if removed from weather conditions, they can not compensate, and may end up in new winter locations. Adults can keep up with strong winds and adjust their directions to finish on their normal winter site, as they are familiar with the location. For the same reason, all spring migrants, even those from abandoned winter locations, can find their way back to traditional breeding grounds. An experiment with young birds raised in captivity in Kaliningrad and released in the absence of a wild stork to show them the way to reveal that they seem to have the instinct to fly south, although the spread toward it is large.
Energetics
White storks depend on increasing the heat of the air to float and glide long distances from their annual migration between Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa. For many, the shortest route will take them to the Mediterranean Sea; However, since thermal air does not form on water, they generally rotate above the ground to avoid trans-Mediterranean flights that will require wings to flap the long wings. It is estimated that flapping a flight metabolizes 23 times more body fat than a spike of flights per distance traveled. Thus, the spiral flocks upward on warm air rises until they appear above, up to 1,200-1,500 m (3,900-4,900 ft) above the ground (although one note from Western Sudan observes a height of 3,300 m (10,800 ft)).
Long flight over water can sometimes be done. A young white stork rang in a nest in Denmark then appeared in England, where he spent several days before moving on. It was then seen flying over St. Mary's, Isles of Scilly, and arriving in poor condition on Madeira three days later. The island is 500 km (320 miles) from Africa, and two times farther from mainland Europe. Migration through the Middle East may be hampered by khamsin , a wind that brings in the overcast days is not suitable for flying. In this situation, a herd of white storks sat outside the bad weather on the ground, standing and facing the wind.
Behavior
White Stork is a gregarious bird; thousands of people have been recorded on migration routes and in the winter areas of Africa. Non-breeding birds gather in groups of 40 or 50 during the breeding season. The smaller dark crane of Abdim is often found with white crane in southern Africa. White crane breeding couples can gather in small groups to hunt, and colony nests have been recorded in some areas. However, groups among the white heron colonies vary widely in size and loosely defined social structures; young breeding cranes are often confined to peripheral nests, while older storks achieve higher breeding success while occupying better quality nests toward the nursery colony center. The social structure and group cohesion are managed by altruistic behaviors such as allopreening. White stork shows this behavior exclusively on the nest site. Birds stood statues of birds sitting, sometimes these parents take care of teenagers, and sometimes teenagers mutually bersilat each other. Unlike other herons, he never adopted the posture of the wings, though it is known to loosen its wings (keeping them away from the body with the main feathers pointing down) when the feathers are wet.
White stork droppings, containing faeces and gout, are sometimes directed to his own legs, making him look white. The resulting evaporation gives cooling and is called urohidrosis. Birds that have rung can sometimes be affected by the accumulation of dirt around the ring that causes narrowing and trauma to the limbs. White storks have also been recorded for the use of tools by squeezing moss in the beak to drip water into the mouths of their children.
Communications
The main sound of today's white storks is noisy, noisy, which is equated with far-sighted machine-gun fire. Birds make these sounds by opening and closing the beak quickly so that the sound of a knock is made whenever the beak closes. The roar is amplified by the pocket of his throat, which acts as a resonator. Used in a variety of social interactions, bill-clattering generally grows harder the longer it lasts, and takes on different rhythms depending on the situation - for example, slower during intercourse and shorter when given as an alarm call. The only vowel produced by an adult bird is the almost inaudible hiss; However, young birds can produce loud hissing, various squeaking sounds, and cage-like enclosures they use for food. Like adults, young people also thrill their beaks. The up and down screen is used for a number of interactions with other species members. Here the crane quickly tilted his head back so his crown rested on his back before slowly bringing his head and neck forward again, and this was repeated several times. The screen is used as a greeting between birds, coitus post, and also as a threat display. Territorial breeding pairs during the summer, and use this screen, as well as crouching forward with a tilted tail and extended wings.
Breeding and lifetime
White storks breed on open farmland with access to swampy wetlands, build large tree stick nests, in buildings, or on man-made platforms. Each nest is 1-2 m (3.3-6.6 feet) in depth, 0.8-1.5 m (2.6-4.9 ft) in diameter, and 60-250 kg (130-550 lb) in weight. Nest built in loose colonies. Not persecuted for being considered a good omen, often a nest close to human habitation; in southern Europe, the nest can be seen in churches and other buildings. These nests are usually used year after year mainly by older men. The men arrive early in the season and choose the nest. The larger nest is associated with a larger number of young people being released, and apparently sought. The nest changes are often associated with couples change and failure to raise younger the previous year, and younger birds are more likely to alter nesting sites. Although a partner can be found to occupy the hive, the partner may change several times during the initial stages and breeding activities begin only after the stable partner is reached.
Some bird species often nest in large nests of white storks. The ordinary inhabitants are sparrows, sparrows, and common starlings; Less common residents include Eurasians, small owls, European carriages, white carts, black red-eye birds, Eurasia jackdaws, and Spanish sparrows. The pair of birds paired up by participating in a squatting view that leads upwards and a trembling head, and wiggling its beak while throwing its head back. Couples often mate throughout the month before the eggs are laid. High frequency pair pairs are usually associated with sperm competition and high frequency of extra-pair copulation; however, extra-partner copulation is rare in white storks.
The white crane couple raises one parent a year. Females typically lay four eggs, although a grip of one to seven has been recorded. Eggs are white, but often look dirty or yellowish because of the sticky cover. They typically measure 73 mm - 52 mm (2.9 in 2.0 2.0 in), and weigh 96-129 g (3.4-4.6 oz), which is about 11 g (0.39 oz) is shell. Incubation begins as soon as the first egg is laid, so its parent hatches asynchronously, from 33 to 34 days later. The first hatch usually has a competitive advantage over the others. While stronger chicks are not aggressive towards weaker siblings, as in some species, weak or small chicks are sometimes killed by their parents. This behavior occurs during a food shortage to reduce the size of the mother and therefore increases the likelihood of survival of the remaining nest. White cranes do not attack each other, and the method of feeding their parents (mixing large amounts of food at once) means that the stronger siblings can not defeat the weaker for food directly, then the killing of children is an efficient way to reduce the size of the parent. However, this behavior is not commonly observed.
The temperature and weather around spring hatching time is important; Cold temperatures and wet weather increase female mortality and reduce the success rate of breeding. Somewhat unexpectedly, research has found that hatching chicks who achieve adult age produce more chicks than those who just hatched. Chicks weight increased rapidly in the first few weeks and reached the plateau about 3.4 kg (45 kg) in 45 days. The half-life increases linearly for about 50 days. The young birds are fed with earthworms and insects, which are spewed by parents to the nest floor. Older chicks reach out to the mouths of parents to get food. Chicks live 58 to 64 days after hatching.
White storks generally begin to multiply when about four years, although the age of first breeding has been recorded for two years and up to seven years. The oldest wild white stork is known to live for 39 years after it rang in Switzerland, while captive birds have lived for more than 35 years.
Feed
White storks consume various types of predatory animals. They prefer to feed on grasslands about 5 km (3 mi) away from their nests and locations where vegetation is shorter so that their prey is more accessible. Their food varies according to season availability, locality and prey. Common foods include insects (especially beetles, grasshoppers, locusts and crickets), earthworms, reptiles, amphibians, especially species of frogs such as edible frogs ( Pelophylax esculentus ) and ordinary frogs ( Rana temporaria ) and small mammals such as rats, moles and mice. Less commonly, they also eat eggs of birds and young birds, fish, mollusks, crustaceans and scorpions. They hunt primarily during the day, swallowing small prey whole, but killing and breaking larger prey before swallowing. Rubber tapes are misconstrued as earthworms and are consumed, sometimes causing fatal gastrointestinal obstruction.
The birds returning to Latvia during the spring have been shown to find their prey, frog moor ( Rana arvalis ), by discovering the mating calls produced by the aggregation of frogs.
The non-breeding bird-eating pattern is similar to that of birds that breed, but food is more often taken from dry regions. The winter white stork in western India has been observed following blackbuck to catch insects that are disturbed by them. The winter white stork in India sometimes forages along with the woolly crane ( Ciconia episcopus ). Food piracy has been recorded in India with a rodent captured by a western swamp harrier taken by a white stork, while the Montagu harrier is known to disrupt the white crane foraging for mice in some parts of Poland.
Parasites and diseases
The white stork nest is the habitat for many small arthropods, especially during the warmer months after the birds arrive to breed. Nested for years in a row, storks carry more material to coat their nests and layers of organic matter accumulate in them. Not only do their bodies tend to regulate the temperature inside the nest, but dirt, food waste and fur and skin flakes provide food for large populations and a variety of free living mesostigmatic mites. A survey of twelve nests found 13,352 individuals from 34 species, the most common being Macrocheles merdarius , M.Ã, robustulus , Uroobovella pyriformis and Trichouropoda orbicularis , which together represent nearly 85% of all specimens collected. It feeds on eggs and insect and nematode larvae, which are abundant in the nest. These mites are scattered by coprophilous beetles, often from the Scarabaeidae family, or on the dirt carried by the crane during nest construction. Parasitic mites do not occur, may be controlled by predatory species. The overall effect of mite populations is unclear, mites may have a role in suppressing harmful (and hence beneficial) organisms, or they themselves can have adverse effects on the nest.
The birds themselves have more than four species of mite genera. These mites, including Freyanopterolichus pelargicus and Pelargolichus didactylus live on fungus that grows in feathers. Mushrooms found in feathers can eat keratin from the outer feathers or on the feather oil. Chewing lice such as Colpocephalum zebra tend to be found on the wings, and Neophilopterus incompletus elsewhere on the body.
White stork also carries several types of internal parasites, including Toxoplasma gondii and intestinal parasites of the genus Giardia . A study of 120 white stork carcasses from Saxony-Anhalt and Brandenburg in Germany produced eight species of trematoda (accidental), four cestode (species of tapeworm) species, and at least three species of nematodes. One of the worm species, Chaunocephalus ferox, causes lesions in the small intestine wall in a number of birds treated at two rehabilitation centers in central Spain, and is associated with weight loss. This is a recognized pathogen and the cause of morbidity in Asia openbill ( Anastomus oscitans ). More recently, a thorough study conducted by J. Sitko and P. Heneberg in the Czech Republic in 1962-2013 shows that the white stork of central Europe hosts the 11 worm species. Chaunocephalus ferox , Tylodelphys excavata and Dictymetra discoidea are reported to be the dominant ones. Other species found include Hia Cathaemasia , Echinochasmus spinulosus , Echinostoma revolutum , Echinostoma sudanense , Duboisia syriaca. , Apharyngostrigea cornu , Capillaria sp. and Dictymetra discoidea . Young white storks are shown to have fewer species, but the intensity of infection is higher in adolescents than in adult storks.
The West Nile virus (WNV) is primarily a bird infection transmitted between birds by mosquitoes. Bird migration seems to be important in the spread of the less-known, ecological virus. On August 26, 1998, a group of about 1,200 migrating white storks had been flown, of course, on the way south they landed in Eilat, in southern Israel. The sheep were emphasized because they were forced to flap their wings to return to the migration route, and a number of birds died. The evil virus from the West Nile virus was isolated from the brains of eleven dead teenagers. Other white storks hereafter tested in Israel have demonstrated anti-WNV antibodies. In 2008 three young white storks from the Polish wildlife sanctuary produced seropositive results that showed exposure to the virus, but the context or presence of the virus in Poland is unclear.
Preservation
The decline of the White Stork due to industrialization and agricultural change (mainly the drying of wetlands and conversion of grasslands to crops like corn) began in the 19th century: the last wild individual in Belgium was seen in 1895, in Sweden in 1955, in Switzerland in 1950 and in the Netherlands in 1991. However, the species has been reintroduced into many areas. This has been considered the least noticed by the IUCN since 1994, after being evaluated almost threatened in 1988. White stork is one of the species in which the African-Eurasian Migratory Migratory Water Conservation Agreement (AEWA). The parties to the agreement are asked to engage in the conservation strategies described in the detailed action plan. The plan is intended to address key issues such as species and habitat conservation, human activities management, research, education, and implementation. Threats include continued wetlands loss, collisions with power lines overhead, the use of persistent pesticides (such as DDT) to fight grasshoppers in Africa, and most illegal hunting on migration routes and winterlands.
Large populations of white storks breed in centers (Poland, Ukraine and Germany) and southern Europe (Spain and Turkey). In the 2004/05 census, there were 52,500 pairs in Poland, 30,000 pairs in Ukraine, 20,000 pairs in Belarus, 13,000 pairs in Lithuania (the highest density of this species in the world), 10,700 pairs in Latvia, and 10,200 in Russia.. There are about 5,500 couples in Romania, 5,300 in Hungary and about 4,956 breeding pairs in Bulgaria. In Germany, the majority of the total of 4,482 pairs are in the eastern region, especially in the states of Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (1296 and 863 pairs in 2008). Apart from Spain and Portugal (33,217 and 7,684 pairs in 2004/05 respectively), the general population is much more stable. The Danish population declined to just three pairs in 2005. In the eastern Mediterranean region Turkey has a sizable population of 6195 pairs, and Greece 2139 pairs. In Western Europe the white stork remains a rare bird despite any conservation efforts. In 2004 France only had 973 pairs, and the Netherlands 528 pairs. In Armenia the White Stork population slightly increased in the period between 2005 and 2015, and the latest data made 652 pairs.
By the early 1980s, the population had fallen to less than nine pairs across the upper Rhine basin, an area identified with white storks for centuries. Conservation efforts managed to increase the bird population there to 270 pairs (in 2008), largely due to the actions of the Association for the Protection and Reincarnation of Storks in Alsace and Lorraine. The reintroduction of birds kept at zoos has halted further declines in Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland. There are 601 pairs of breeding in Armenia and about 700 pairs in the Netherlands in 2008, and several pairs also breed in South Africa, usually new colonies from within normal winter populations. In Poland, electric poles have been modified with a platform at the top to prevent a large nest of white storks disrupting power supplies, and sometimes nests are moved from power lines to man-made platforms. Introduction of birds kept at zoos in the Netherlands has been followed up by feeding and building nests by volunteers. Similar reintroduction programs are underway in Sweden, and Switzerland, where 175 pairs were recorded breeding in 2000. Long-term survival of the Swiss population is unclear because of the low success rate of breeding, and supplementary feeding seems to be of no use.
Cultural association
Due to its large size, predation on ticks, and nesting behavior that is close to human settlements and on the roof, the white crane has an impressive presence that has affected human culture and folklore. The Hebrew word for white stork is chasidah (?????), which means "merciful" or "kinder". Greek and Roman mythology describes storks as a model of parental devotion, and it is believed that they did not die of old age, but flew to the island and took on human form. This bird is featured in at least three Fables Aesop: The Fox and Stork, The Farmer and Stork, and The Frogs Who Desired a King. Storks are also considered to care for their elderly parents, feed them and even transport them, and children's books describe them as models of the child's values. A Greek law called Pelargonia, from Ancient Greek word pelargos for the heron, obliges citizens to care for their elderly parents. The Greeks also argued that killing a heron could be put to death. It was allegedly protected in Ancient Thessaly because of being hunted by snakes, and is widely regarded as the "white bird" of Virgil. The Roman authors noted the arrival of a white crane in the spring, which warned farmers to plant their vines.
The followers of the cranes are Muslim because they make an annual pilgrimage to Mecca for their migration. Some early insights about bird migration were initiated by the interest of the white stork; PfeilstÃÆ'¶rche ("stork arrow") is found in Europe with African arrows embedded in their bodies. A famous example of such a crane found in the summer of 1822 in the town of KlÃÆ'¼tz in Germany in Mecklenburg was made into a taxidermy specimen, complete with an ornate African arrow, now at Rostock University.
Storks have little fear in humans if not disturbed, and often lodged in buildings in Europe. In Germany, the presence of nests in a house is believed to protect against fires. They are also protected because of the belief that their soul is human. German and Dutch households will encourage cranes to nest in homes, sometimes by constructing high-specially built platforms, to bring good luck. Poles, Lithuanians and Ukrainians believe that the heron brings harmony to the family on whose property they lodge.
White stork is a popular motif on postage stamps, and it is featured on over 120 stamps issued by more than 60 cap publishers. It is a national bird of Lithuania and Belarus, and it is a Polish mascot at the Expo 2000 Fair in Hanover. In the 19th century, the heron was also considered only living in countries that had a republican form of government. The Polish poet Siprian Kamil Norwid mentions the heron in his poem Moja piosnka (II) ("My Song (II)"):
To the land where it is a big parody
To damage the stork nest in the pear tree,
For the stork serving all of us...
I miss home, God!...
Stork and delivery
According to European folklore, storks are responsible for bringing babies to new parents. This legend is very ancient, but popularized by the story of 19th century Hans Christian Andersen called The Storks . The German folktale states that the heron finds a baby in a cave or swamp and brings it to a household in a basket on their back or held in its beak. These caves contain adebarsteine ​​â € <â € < or "stone cranes". The babies will then be given to the mother or fall into the chimney. Households will notify when they want children by placing sweets for cranes on the windowsill. From there folklore has spread throughout the world to the Philippines and countries in South America. The birthmark behind the head of a newborn baby, nevus flammeus nuchae , is sometimes referred to as a cork-crane.
In Slavic mythology and religion, storks are thought to carry the unborn soul of Vyraj to Earth in spring and summer. This belief persists in modern folk culture in many Slavic countries, in the simplified child story that "the heron takes the children to the world". Storks are seen by Slavs as bringing good luck, and killing people will bring bad luck. A long-term study showing a false correlation between the number of stork nests and human births is widely used in basic statistical teaching as an example to highlight that correlations do not always show cause and effect. Myths that bring children have appeared in various forms in history. Children of African American slaves are sometimes told that white babies are carried by cranes, while black babies are born from omelette eggs.
Psychoanalyst Marvin Margolis shows the eternal nature of the newborn baby crane associated with overcoming psychological needs, in that it eliminates the discomfort of discussing sex and procreation with children. Birds have long been associated with maternal symbols of pagan goddesses such as Juno to the Holy Spirit, and cranes may be chosen for their white feathers (depicting purity), size (as large enough to carry the baby), and flying at high altitudes ( likened to fly between Earth and Heaven). The tale and its relationship with the child's internal world have been discussed by Sigmund Freud, and Carl Jung. In fact, Jung remembered telling the story itself at the birth of his own sister. Traditional relationships with newborns continue with their use in advertisements for products such as diapers and birth announcements.
There is a negative aspect of the stork folklore as well; a Polish folk tale tells how God made the crane's feathers white, while Satan gave him black wings, planted them with good and evil impulses. They are also linked to a disabled baby or stillbirth in Germany, explained because the heron dropped the baby on the way to the household, or as a retaliation or punishment for past mistakes. A mother who is confined to bed during childbirth is said to be "bitten" by a heron. In Denmark, the heron is said to throw a nest of nests and then eggs in the following years. In medieval England, the herons were also associated with adultery, probably inspired by their courtship rituals. Their preening and posture see them related to the attributes of self-conceit.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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