Information about storks (Ciconia ciconia)

The white stork - typical bird of the "Niederlausitz" region

• Arrival at brooding habitat (Niederlausitz):
  end of March / beginning of April
• Departure for winter habitat:
  Young storks - middle of August / adult storks - end of August
• Number of eggs in the nest: 2 - 5

• Arrival at brooding habitat (Niederlausitz):
  end of March / beginning of April
• Departure for winter habitat:
  Young storks - middle of August / adult storks - end of August
• Number of eggs in the nest: 2 - 5
• Duration of brooding: 30 - 32 days
• Number of young ones: 5 at best
• Passages:

  There are two routes that are used by the storks to get to their winter habitats, starting at some time in August. One can distinguish between storks that use the eastern and storks that use the western route. The ones using the eastern route (including the storks living in our region) fly via the Balkan Mountains, Bosporus, Israel, Turkey, the Sinai peninsula or following the Nil River to South Africa. The storks using the western route fly via France, Spain, Gibraltar to the northern and western parts of Africa. It's quite a long way to cope with. The passage to South Africa, for example, takes eight to fifteen weeks, during those the stork covers between 150 and 300 kilometers daily. The stork returns to its brooding habitat between the end of March and the beginning of April.

• Border of distribution between the west and the east population in Germany corresponds to the course of the Elbe River
• Food:
  The white stork stands on top of the food pyramid, which means he himself does not have any direct enemies in his brooding habitat. Weak storks, however, can become the victims of animals like foxes and martens. The stork's food consists of worms, insects, small rodents and mammals up to the size of a rat (first of all mice), amphibians (e. g. frogs), reptiles (snakes, lizards) and fish.