Hello, everyone.
OMG, poor little storklet.
I was not at home and could only follow this drama on my smartphone.
Thank you all for reporting.
Goshawks also have to hunt and to eat, of course, but I feel very sad.
Unfortunately, the storklets are still light and young and a goshawk can still push them off the nest.
Hopefully, the two remaining storklets will be left in peace, but it is quite possible that the goshawk will return.
The First Documented Case of Northern Goshawk Accipiter gentilis Predation on Black Stork Ciconia nigra Nestlings
Bartosz JANIC, Maciej KAMIŃSKI, Dariusz PIENIAK, Michał STRAWIAK and Piotr ZIELIŃSKI,
Poland
In 2016 and 2017 five instances of the Northern Goshawk Accipiter gentilis depredating Black Stork Ciconia nigra nestlings were observed using web camera installed at a Black Stork nest in central Poland. In 2016 the Goshawk depredated whole brood of three Black Stork nestlings. The nestlings’ ages at the time of the attack were 23, 21 and 23 days. In 2017, at the same nest, the Goshawk partially depredated the brood, removing two (age 21 and 24 days) out of the four nestlings. In 2018, in another nest with a web camera, the Goshawk depredated whole brood of five nestlings (
age 26, 29, 35, 37 and 38 days). It is suggested that
the impact of the Goshawk predation on Black Stork broods is much stronger than previously thought. This study was a part of a Black Stork joint project of the Regional Directorate of State Forests in Lodz, the Eagle Conservation Committee and the University of Lodz (2016-2017) and the Regional Directorate of State Forests in Lodz and the University of Lodz in 2018.
New Data on Black Stork Nest Predators in Latvia
Māris STRAZDS and Linda OSE
We used trail cameras to collect more accurate data on Black Stork phenology, to collect ring recoveries of adult birds and to improve knowledge on the behaviour of Black Storks in Latvia since 2011. The total amount of data to be used for analyses comprises 9,351 camera days, with 5,218 days of stork presence, 1,141,248 pictures in total. These data among other things also document numerous visits of predators and show some depredation cases in detail. The new data have changed our understanding of the significance of some of the known predator species, namely
Goshawk Accipiter gentilis depredation is far more significant than was suspected earlier. Another important new finding is that many depredation cases are partial. This leaves some nests "depredated" but successful at the same time. Our data show that depredation during egg period is very strongly underrated and that partial depredation is most frequently not registered at all. We discuss the differences in patterns of attacks of various predator species and difficulties in discovering true causes of egg and/or chick loss during the breeding season.