Rare black stork appears in Chornobyl

The black stork, which is considered quite rare in Ukraine, was spotted near the Chernobyl zone.

Ornithologists visited the outskirts of the village of Kamianka. This was reported on 28 May by the Chornobyl Reserve on Facebook.

Back in the spring, a black stork nest was spotted in the village. It was located at a height of more than 3 metres, where three chicks were clearly visible.

The black stork is considered a very cautious bird and rare. Each nest is of great importance for the conservation of the species.

According to the experts, when the chicks grow up, they will be ringed, which will allow monitoring the population, conducting scientific research and analysing migration processes.

Black stork – where it is distributed and what it eats

The black stork (Ciconia nigra) is the only species of the stork family (Ciconiidae) that nests in Europe alongside the white stork (Ciconia ciconia). Its very large range extends from the Atlantic coast of Western Europe to the Pacific Ocean in East Asia. In Central Europe, it is a rare, very secretive breeding bird. Since about 1990, there has been a slight tendency to expand its breeding range to the west.

In contrast to the white stork, the black stork is a shy inhabitant of old, closed forests with stagnant and running water. It is predominantly a fish hunter, preferring to search for food in hidden forest streams. Unlike their white cousins, black storks are cultural refugees and are very sensitive to disturbances in their breeding range. They typically build their nests in the upper third of the trunk of deciduous trees, preferring oaks and beeches.

Somewhat isolated, freestanding trees in the forest are often chosen as nest supports, allowing for good approach and departure. Conveniently located nests are often used for many years and can reach a substantial size. Most Black Storks are migratory birds.
Their wintering grounds are located mainly in the wetlands of West Africa and equatorial East Africa. However, some also winter in southern Portugal and southern Spain.

The black stork population in South Africa does not migrate. The species appears in the breeding area from the beginning of April and leaves again in late August/early September. Under favourable conditions, pairs of Black Storks can raise four young, but larger broods have also been observed. Despite its very large distribution, no subspecies have been identified. The species is not considered endangered.

Appearance

The Black Stork is slightly smaller than the White Stork (Ciconia ciconia). The upper part, head, neck and front of the breast are metallic shiny black, the plumage shimmers with metallic greenish, purple, but also copper depending on the light. Only the breast, abdomen, part of the underwing near the body and the coverts are white. Females are only slightly duller in colour than males, their beak is mostly straight, while males have a slightly upwardly curved beak. There is no difference in weight or size between the sexes.

The beak and legs of the adult bird are bright red during the breeding season, but during the breeding season, the plumage is brown to dull dark red. The bare skin around the eyes and the base of the beak are also bright reddish during the breeding season. The legs of the young birds are yellowish-green in the first year and gradually change colour from brown to reddish. Its beak is dark brown with a slight rusty red tinge. The plumage colour is duller, rather rich brownish-black, with no metallic lustre.

The total length of a black stork is on average less than 100 centimetres, making it about ten per cent smaller than an average-sized white stork. An adult bird weighs almost three kilograms, and a first-time migrant about two and a half. This means that black storks are on average 10-20% lighter than white storks. With a wingspan of up to 57.5 centimetres, the total wingspan can reach almost two metres. The beak of an adult bird is up to 19.5 centimetres long and about three centimetres high.

Habitat

Unlike its better-known relative, the white stork, the black stork mostly lives hidden in old, but not too dense, multi-structured forests; deciduous and mixed deciduous forests with clearings, running water, puddles and ponds are its ideal habitat. Likewise, wet, extensively used meadows near forests are optimal habitat for black storks.

The territories of old black storks are almost always located in closed forest areas, usually over 100 hectares. Due to the denser population and the associated lack of optimal breeding sites, nesting settlements have also been observed in recent years in small forest areas and in some cases even in small field groves.

Black storks are very sensitive to disturbance and therefore mostly avoid the vicinity of human settlements. Various claims that the Black Stork also nests in the vicinity of human settlements in the Transcaucasus have not been confirmed by recent studies.

In Northern and Central Europe, the Black Stork is more common. Breeding populations in the west, with the exception of the predominantly resident Iberian populations, are areas of dispersal that have only been settled for a few years. The widespread distribution wedge now extends from the forested areas of the Belgian and Luxembourg Ardennes through northeastern and central France. In the north, the species nests from northern Germany (irregularly and in very small numbers also in Denmark) eastwards through Poland and the Baltic States.

Black storks build large nests in trees or rocks. Nests in trees are located in the middle, but more often in the upper third of various deciduous and coniferous trees, mostly near the trunk, but occasionally also far from the trunk on wide, sturdy branches. Among the nesting trees, oak is probably the preferred species, mainly because oaks develop strong branches with numerous branches even in the middle part of the trunk, which are well suited as a stable support for the nest.

In the lowland regions of Germany, the common beech is the most important tree for nesting. In sufficiently humid forests, nests are often found in alder, ash or birch. In some areas, pine, spruce or fir also dominate as nesting trees. In tree nests, the nest is often located in treetops, i.e. trees that are taller than others, and often at the edges of trees in clearings.

Such locations allow easy access to the nesting area. Stone nests are usually built on relatively low, often partially or completely covered rocky outcrops, although the height of the rock itself and the height of the nest within the rock can vary greatly.

Diet

The diet of the Black Stork consists to a much greater extent of animals that live in or near water than that of the White Stork. Fish and roundworms play the most important role. In addition, amphibians and invertebrates are also hunted, depending on what is available; the proportion of mammals is small compared to the Steller’s sea stork.

Food is usually caught while walking in water, in moist forest areas or in wet meadows. Short, fast chases using the wings are common. Black storks mostly hunt in shallow water, but storks have also been observed to climb into the water by their belly feathers.

The bird hunts both visually and sensorially, probing silt or muddy water with its beak, although its favourite feeding grounds are clean streams with gravelly bottoms. When hunting in water, birds often spread their wings – this method is called canopy feeding. They do not pierce prey with a spear, but grab it with their beak.

It should be reminded that the mysterious rhinoceros birds came out of their winter home in Kyiv Zoo.