17.05.2007

The first Chicks have hatched

During the night from May 16th to 17th the first two chicks have hatched. After the normal 32-day incubation period the stork chicks extricated themselves from the egg shells. It took several hours. On the preceding day the chicks' beeps could already been heard clearly from the eggs.

It is hard to believe, the pipsqueaks of little storks lay their heads on their backs and clatter already. The stork protectors and friends from all over the world are happy and have sent best wishes to the Nature Protection Association in Vetschau.

The "Internet Stork Couple" very thoughtfully care for the offsprings, keep them comfortable and constantly loosens the nest material in the nest hollow. The remaining eggs are incubated. One of the parent storks stays at the eyrie at all times while the other searches for food. During the first days of their lives the chicks require small animals such as earth worms, bugs and snails. The fodder is not placed into their beaks as with song birds. The parent storks regurgitate it from their gullet onto the nest floor from where the young ones pick it up on their own. Now the anxious phase of the upbringing of the young begins. This experience can be observed live on the monitor at the White Stork Information Centre daily except Mondays from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Winfried Boehmer
NABU Project Leader

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