White Stork from the Red Book photo and description, where it lives and what it eats

Large marsh bird White Stork belongs to the Ciconiidae family. Ornithologists distinguish between two subspecies: African, lives in the northwest of Africa, and European, respectively, in Europe.

White storks from Central and Eastern Europe winter in Africa. About a quarter of the population of European white storks lives in Poland.

physical characteristics

A tightly knocked body of a white stork 100-115 cm from the tip of the tail to the end of the tail, weight 2.5-4.4 kg, wingspan 195-215 cm. Big swamp poultry has a white plumage of the body, black flight feathers on the wings. Pigment melanin and carotenoids in the diet of storks provide black color.

In adult white storks, long pointed red beaks, long red paws with partially weed fingers and a long thin neck. They have black skin around the eyes, the claws are stupid and look like nails. Males and females look the same, males are a little more. Featers on the chest are long and form a peculiar lining that birds use when courting.

On long and wide wings, white stork easily soars in the air. Birds wave their wings slowly. Like most waterfowl, soaring in the sky, white storks look spectacular: long necks are stretched forward, and long paws are extended back far beyond the edge of a short tail. They wave huge, wide wings not often, retain energy.

On Earth, the white stork is a slow even step, stretching out his head up. At rest, he tilts his head to the shoulders. Primary flight feathers are fed annually, a new plumage grows during the propagation period.

What places are white storks prefer for housing

White stork chooses habitats:

White storks avoid areas overgrown with tall trees and shrubs.

White stork in flight

Stork diet

White stork is active throughout the day, prefers to feed in small water-bolot and agricultural lands, in herbal meadows. White stork is a predator and eats:

Singing white storks

White storks make noisy sounds with quick opening and closing the beaks, the throat bag enhances the signals.

Where are the storks build nests

White stork for laying eggs builds nests in open, wet or often flooded herbaceous meadows, less often in areas with high vegetation cover, such as forests and shrubs.