Latvian black storks - 2020/2021

[ame]

a new season has started!

viewtopic.php?p=716940#p716940

We need a new topic! Season 2020

Gaja is already here




her black feathers


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XN2jIURb3yA

[ame]

reserved.

Liz, will you reserve a few posts for the introduction?

[Liz01]

...

Thank you very much for opening the new topic

Black Stork Sigulda county, 2020/2021

The nest is located in Sigulda region. The camera was initially installed in 2018. The nest was found two years before the camera was placed. The nesting area is known for a very long time. The previous nest was known at least since 1982 and was used until 2005 when it was devastated by a pine marten.

The nest is a very typical black stork's nest - the pine branch is 1.8 m from the trunk, but a little unusual is that it is already in the middle of the surrounding tree crowns - about 18 meters high, not hidden under the crowns. It is also uncommon for this nest is the position the camera sensor as it is not on the tree trunk but on the branch behind the nest. This is to avoid the sun shining in the camera all day - the nest branch is directed almost precisely to the South. The nest is located in an old boreal forest with 150-200 years of pine trees and spruce trees. Therefore, it is possible that the camera's eye or sound will also catch a species of owl and husk.

The first season for which researchers have full information is 2017, when four storklets hatched, but three grew. To feed the fourth, the parents apparently lacked food because the bird died already in the nest. There is no news about the impact of carnivores, because there was an automatic camera at the nest until its removal. The last young bird left the nest on September 6th. Both adult birds were without rings.

In 2018, nesting was successful. The first black stork female arrived in the nest on April 5th and the first male on April 7th, but after a few days they were driven away by another stork couple. Both adult birds were without rings. From April 12, five eggs were laid, four of which hatched (May 18-20). All four storklets successfully fledged and were last seen in the nest on August 8-10.

In 2019, the camera system was installed on March 24 with the participation of Jānis Ķuze, Jānis Rudzītis and Māris Strazds. Special thanks to Arborist Edward Ozolin for helping with the camera sensor and microphone.

You can comment on what's happening in the nest in the Dabasdati.lv forum in Latvian
LFD Forum: https://forums.dabasdati.lv/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=4044

Youtube Live Stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxxpGHfH0N4

Youtube LFD channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIcQwg ... hMBclDJENw

=== The Latvian Fund for Nature thanks all the donors we can use to provide live bird broadcasts! Donate for live support here: https://ldf.lv/en/support-ldf or with Mobilly! https://mobilly.lv/ Donations/#/ ===

[Liz01]

Important events 2020:

March, 25 2020 Female has arrived

______________________________________________________________________________


Mr. Blackstork, Māris Strazds - very interesting film




Season 2021 starts here:
https://www.looduskalender.ee/forum/vie ... 37#p781437

Female is named Grāfiene, male is namend Grāfs

Important events in 2021:

06. April = arrival female
https://www.looduskalender.ee/forum/vie ... 41#p787341

11. April = arrival male
https://www.looduskalender.ee/forum/vie ... 92#p789092

02. May = male and female together in the nest for the first time
https://www.looduskalender.ee/forum/vie ... 86#p796286

12. May first egg is laid
https://www.looduskalender.ee/forum/vie ... 19#p799419

14. May second egg is laid
https://www.looduskalender.ee/forum/vie ... 09#p800109

16. May third egg is laid
https://www.looduskalender.ee/forum/vie ... 62#p800762

Hatch time:
12. June at 9:47 AM
https://www.looduskalender.ee/forum/vie ... 87#p807687

14. June 4:16 AM probably hatched during the night
https://www.looduskalender.ee/forum/vie ... 87#p808187

15. June at 3:39 AM probably hatched during the night
https://www.looduskalender.ee/forum/vie ... 18#p808418

Leaving the nest/area for good:
12. August 14:40 Grafiene was at the nest for the last time
https://www.looduskalender.ee/forum/vie ... 40#p823740

13. August first branching by an storklet
https://www.looduskalender.ee/forum/vie ... 16#p824016

20 August the youngest storklet fledged in an age of 66 days
https://www.looduskalender.ee/forum/vie ... 11#p825911

21. August the eldest fledged and crashed
https://www.looduskalender.ee/forum/vie ... 61#p826161

21. August the middle one fledged

22. August 10:47 Grafs was at the nest for the last time
https://www.looduskalender.ee/forum/vie ... 07#p826507

23. August 10:33 the first Storklet left the nest and did not return
°°°11:33 the second Storklet left the nest and did not return
https://www.looduskalender.ee/forum/vie ... 47#p826747

24. August 15:50 the third storklet left the nest and did not return
https://www.looduskalender.ee/forum/vie ... 80#p827080

[Liz01]

How to distinguish male and female

Female with a black feathers on her right



INFO
M.S.
Concerning her identity. I’ll try to check later (I do not have pictures of 2018 directly availlable) but I doubt if this is the same female as then – at 2018 breeding female must have been at least 3 years old, so now she would be 5+. This year’s bird has not a single worn primary nor large back feathers – they all are fresh. I have not yet enough good data on moult and how it proceeds with age, however, all birds with known age (4-5+) have some moulted feathers. More likely this is a younger bird, possibly 1st-breeder (like Mare was the last year = 3 years old / 4th calendar year bird). If so it cannot be Gaja.

Reply:
About „Gaja’s” identity. I’m not certain either. I can tell individuals apart within any given year if good quality data exist. Between the years I rely with certainty only on rings (so far). What they tell is – bird’s plumage do differ between the years significanly. Are these changes traceable? Supposedly yes but it should be done first. One of the tasks for „tomorrow”...

[Liz01]

INFO by Maris S.
Birds do not live with the same feathers all their lives. They grow, wear out, fall out and grow new ones instead of the old ones. After obtaining the costume of an adult bird, which takes place at the age of 2-3 years (even this is not yet known exactly!), The black stork changes its feathers continuously throughout its life. Storks cannot afford to lose airworthiness by replacing "all feathers at once" (as is the case with some waterfowl species), so the feathers that are important for flying - feathers (large feathers) and angles (tail feathers) are gradually changing. Feather changing is an energetically very expensive process, as are laying eggs (for mom) and feeding babies (for both sexes). Probably, therefore, during the seasons when birds raise their young, there is no intensive change of feathers in nesting places. Rarely does a worn airplane or cornice fall out (and begin to grow back). In the off-nesting seasons, the feather change appears to be more intense in the nesting areas, but the main feather change apparently takes place in wintering areas where there is no other energy stress. One feather appears to have served the bird for at least two, possibly three years.

Feather that is older is less rigid and its ends become finned (because of worn hooks that hold the feather rays together). New feathers have smooth, flat ends. In the years when the birds are under a heavy load (a lot of children and probably not enough food for themselves), the feathers wear out much more and therefore at the end of the season the bird no longer "looks after itself", even compared to the situation just a few months ago. Between seasons ("this year" compared to "last year" or earlier), part of the feathers have been changed for each adult bird, even if it is the same bird. Therefore, using the visual condition of the feathers (finned ends or not, broken grooves, etc.) as a criterion for identifying a bird is as productive as judging whether a famous singer is still the same person, based on the cut and / or outfit of her costume. colors every time you perform ... So far, there is only one surefire way to determine a bird 's identity - a ring on a leg, whether someone likes it or not.

M.S.....Nest - this year they won't do anything since it makes no sense. It has been fallen down before this year at least twice - and has been restored in the same place. After winter nothing may remain there - if support branch remains, they might rebuild it within a few days. May not. This is actually very interesting document to see how it happens - as it has happened repeatedly in other nests too - exactly around the time of departure and in some cases has caused departure. It is obviously a good indicator of poor nest site (location in tree) wich in turn is indication of lack of good sites altogether.

[Liz01]

July 2021

https://www.looduskalender.ee/forum/vie ... 60#p817160

Šodien YT čatā esot bijusi diskusija par to vai un kā var noteikt melnā stārķa vecumu. Ornitologs Māris Strazds lūdza ielikt šo informāciju:

Youtube ir sarakste par to, kā var pateikt melno stārķu vecumu. Te ir divi izskata apraksta citāti, kurus viena dalībniece no kaut kurienes ir pārrakstījusi.
+++
Males are larger than females, but the sexes are otherwise alike. Young black storks do not have as a rich coloration to their feathers, but these colors become vibrant by one year of age.
The bill and legs are scarlet red, intensifying during mating season. In winter months, the bill and legs turn brown.
+++
....................

Māris Strazds
19.7.2021.

GT:
Today in the YT chat there was a discussion about whether and how the age of the black stork can be determined. Ornithologist Maris Strazds asked to put the following information:

Youtube is a correspondence on how to tell the age of black storks. Here are two quotes from the description of the look, written by one participant from somewhere.
+++
Males are larger than females, but the sexes are otherwise alike. Young black storks do not have as a rich coloration to their feathers, but these colors become vibrant by one year of age.
The bill and legs are scarlet red, intensifying during mating season. In winter months, the bill and legs turn brown.
+++

I do not want to blame anyone on the debate, because their interest is understandable. I did not look for and check from where, in order not to offend an unknown source, if I make a mistake, I will do without a guess.

But I can say that even in the serious scientific literature, so far there is no source that simply describes the appearance correctly, let alone age. There is one article by Willem Van den Bossches in Dutch Birding on how to distinguish between two-year-old birds, but it is not accurately described in "the heaviest sources". Their problem is rewriting from older "authoritative sources" without considering two things. Descriptions of birds from all ancient sources were based on shot birds and there was simply no visual information about the appearance of live birds nearby. But the appearance of a dead bird is different from a live one! Still, even in authoritative determinants (Collins Bird Guide), the description of the black stork is so inaccurate that one wants to think - the authors have not seen this bird alive nearby. An example is the second sentence "At close range ... black head, neck, brest ...". The black stork has no black feathers! They look only in low light and shade. Some things are confused compared to white storks, such as "scarlet red legs" is not for black storks, but for white storks. For black, they are orange-pink (the tone depends on the angle of the lighting, but the legs are never bright red!) With gray shields on the front of the post, which creates a dirty impression. Images of the determinant are also incorrect, because, for example, the beak of a young bird is significantly shorter than that of an adult bird (in the determinant they are almost the same). I will not correct other nonsense and inaccuracies in the determinant, but I will comment on each of the quoted sentences.
Males are larger than females, but the sexes are otherwise alike.

The male may be larger, but not always.
The opposite can also be the case for a particular pair. Males are usually heavier, but that is not the same thing. The available data on the measured adult birds do not confirm the "outnumbering " of the male, but there are few measurements. The sexes seem to be the same, but they can be distinguished. As this is currently unpublished information, allow observers to try to get there themselves. You just have to watch and think carefully.

Young black storks do not have as a rich coloration to their feathers, but these colors become vibrant by one year of age.
The first part of the sentence can be considered correct, but the second is complete nonsense. Birds can be safely distinguished at the age of two, when they are characteristically variegated - some feathers as young, some as old, and, to a lesser extent and perhaps not all birds, this appearance is maintained at three years of age. After that, the birds change their feathers continuously, presumably, each of the large feathers changes after 2 (or even 3) years. Worn feathers are dull, the older, the duller, re-grown are shiny with a bronze sheen. Neither in terms of "brightness" nor variegation, as far as adult birds (from 4 years of age) are concerned, their age CANNOT be said. It is safe to tell the age of a bird if it is ringed and the age is known from the ringing data.

The bill and legs are scarlet red, intensifying during mating season.
I have already written about feet. The beak is red and does not turn redder during mating, as might be understood from the text, on the contrary, it has a distinctly yellow tip, i. the beak becomes "brighter" and brighter


in the winter months, the bill and legs turn brown.
Just nonsense. The appearance of the winter months is from a 2-year-old bird.

In general, I would advise any participants in such discussions to refrain from demonstrating "knowledge" on issues that
where this knowledge does not exist. ...

Māris Strazds
19.7.2021.

I agree with every worth! I just don't feel like arguing anymore when some see themselves as experts.
We are only observers, we only see what is happening on the cameras. Not more! The camera falsifies color and size of the birds.
And none of us are expert enough to see the plumage and can tell the age or gender!

Vērotāja thank you!
Info (completely new to me!) :
In one of the meetings, Māris Strazdu said that males can fly for food to quite distant places, but females usually gattering food relatively close to the nest. If there is nothing nearby, then the female does not have anything to eat. In such drought and heat, the small forest streams and ditches have since long dried up.
https://www.looduskalender.ee/forum/vie ... 78#p820478

March 25

8:47 Gaja arrived on the nest. She was already here before. Branches are already limed



video quality is bad, it is from delayed stream

[Liz01]

5:28 pm Gaja comes home for the night

18:06 light nest work


18:56 ready for the night





she was on the nest the whole night

[Liz01]

March 26

5:49 ps with open beak


6:49 wing stretching


6:02 preening, nestauration, then she flew to the left

[Liz01]

9:32 she is back - in this video you can see her black feathers on the right very well


the black feathers on her right


10:10 She flew away after resting and preening



Playlist Latvian Black Stork: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... R3KipEurN9

[Liz01]

March 27

5:56 Gaja was on the nest overnight.


6:10


9:43 she went on the parent branch

[Liz01]

selfie by blue tit, grat tit or willow tit the light is bad and the bird was very fast

[Michi]

Hello everyone,
thank you, ame, for opening the new topic!
Many thanks, Liz, for all the news, pictures and videos!

So wonderful, that Gaja has managed the wintering and the dangerous journey back. Welcome home, Gaja!

Here the camera-link: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4Pu2LYOnF44

Liz, maybe you can put the camera-link in your first posting or in ames first post?

[Liz01]

........
So wonderful, that Gaja has managed the wintering and the dangerous journey back.

Could it be, that Gaja is wintering in Spain? she is here very early again.

[Michi]

Could it be, that Gaja is wintering in Spain? she is here very early again.

Yes, she is early. One can not exclude that she was in Spain. GSE Tönn is also the only one of the tracked GSE who takes every year the western route. Maybe some storks do the same. Unfortunately we will never know it.

[Solo]

18:06 light nest work

Liz, I think Gaja has this black feather also on the other side

thanx for all news in this thread - great work (as always)

[Liz01]

Liz, I think Gaja has this black feather also on the other side
..........

I know it, Solo what extent changes on feathers take place, during the molt.
Some feathers are added. Rather, there are black feathers where white feathers used to be. Can this be? I don't know.

I saw it by Milda & Raimis. Some new dark feather are new.
EDIT: I will compare the springs on the left side of Gaja 2019 at some other time.

[Liz01]

16:34 arrival Male ? Kaupo????

Defending black stork in the nest. Could be also a female. I have to check my video
It is for sure a defending. Not a greeting.

she is very upset






EDIT: 11.04.2020 -this stork is a male

[Liz01]

It was Gaja! So there is the other female here again
black feather on the right




The game begins. I hope it doesn't get too bad.

[Michi]

Thank you for the new video and pictures, Liz!

I also hope for peace and no dangerous fights for the nest.

Just now, 18:53 nest time, there were cranes calling.