17.06.2008

Famine for Storks

The significant drought of the past weeks has led to a famine for many hungry chicks and their parent storks of Lower Lusatia. Up to seven pounds per day of fodder every stork family requires. Yet earth worms, snails and small amphibians have hole up deep inside the soil. What was left for the storks to do other than to reduce the number of their offsprings? The weakest ones had to be sacrificed, that meant parent storks threw young ones out of the eyries. Unusually many droppings were reported this year in Lower Lusatia, so from Forts, Dissent, Baboon, Colquitt, Grossraeschen, Naundorf, and Lehde. Some chicks landed softly and survived the drop.

Concerned residents looked after them, informed white stork care givers or even brought the chicks to Forest Ranger Heindel at Reddern. At this time he already takes care of thirteen chicks and two injured parent storks. At broods at Burg and Dollenchen nature protectors removed three chicks respectively from the eyries. Residents noticed that one parent was constantly at the eyrie without flying away to gather fodder. In both cases one of the parent storks met with an accident. Because the young storks were still too small the parent stork stayed at the eyrie for protection. After several day he would have abandoned the brood.

Another situation presents itself when the young storks have reached an age of about four weeks. Then the time has come when they are often left by alone at the eyrie. They large enough and are no longer in need of constant protection and care of their parents. Moreover the need for fodder increases for the ever hungry young beaks. This need rises with every passing day and cannot satisfied by one parent stork alone. For this reason both parent storks fly to the nearby meadows and fields, and often can only be seen together at the eyrie in the late evening.

What can be done so that our storks have enough fodder in the future and more young storks grow up? More wet lands, close to nature brooks, pools should be developed in the vicinities of villages. In mixed fruit orchards, groves and unused lands many fodder animals (snails etc.) develop. The use of fodder biotopes should not continue. Farmers who Want to change to bio-cultivation should received assistance for intensive agriculture with chemical support or even cultivation with genetically modified crops changes plants have a negative impact on our storks and similar species.

Winfried Boehmer
NABU-Federal Work Group: White Stork Protection (NABU-Bundesarbeitsgruppe Weißstorchschutz)

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