Black Stork Nests in Europe

[Liz01]

Female: Black Stork
Male:White Stork
two chicks
© Nouvelles photos LÜDER- Frank Neufang






https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002046052315

[Liz01]

https://www.az-online.de/uelzen/bad-bod ... 60932.html

GT:
It is an ornithological sensation: in Lüder, a white stork and a black stork have given birth together. An expert has now ringed the animals.

Lüder – When the white stork Heinrich and his new partner, a black stork, moved into the nest on a meadow belonging to Wolfgang Schulze in Lüder two months ago, an ornithological sensation was in the offing. In the meantime, this has become a joyful certainty. About a month ago, two young storks were born, and now an expert has ringed the animals, which could symbolically be called “grey storks”.

It is extremely rare for a white and black stork to have offspring together. Wolfgang Schulze is all the more pleased that Heinrich and Isis, as the black stork is called, have two young animals. These are white, their head is light gray. "Possibly they will still change their color when they are older," says Schulze. The seven ornithologists from Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein and Hesse, who were recently in Lüder and took a closer look at the young animals, explained that to him. Her verdict: The offspring seems to be healthy.

As reported, the local nature working group made the nest - a wicker basket on a wooden pole - in 2017 and set it up on Schulze's property. With the help of a telehandler provided by a farmer, the ornithologists have now reached the nest. "The young storks fought back quite a bit with their beaks," says Schulze and laughs. There was one egg in the nest, but it hadn't hatched. The sex of the young storks is not yet known - it will be determined soon.

In the first few weeks, the two animals were fed regularly by Heinrich and Isis, mostly with insects, mice and frogs. "Meanwhile, the young storks sometimes sit alone in the nest," reports Schulze. The parent animals are often out and about on the green spaces in the area.

In recent weeks, many visitors have observed the nest with binoculars. The influx of photographers also increased by leaps and bounds. However, Schulze asks that the storks are not disturbed under any circumstances. His meadow may not be entered either. Schulze has put up a corresponding sign there.

The fact that Heinrich and Isis had offspring has a history. From March 19th there was a lot of hustle and bustle on the nest. “Sometimes four storks fought about it. Heinrich was probably among the fighters," says Schulze. From April 4th Heinrich was the sole winner and was waiting for his longtime partner Ilse. But she didn't appear, instead Isis. "She kept flying in the direction of the nest, but was chased away by Heinrich," remembers Schulze.

Isis' persistence paid off. From April 14, Heinrich and she sat peacefully on the nest and brooded. Even a white stork suddenly flying in had no chance of separating the two. "First Isis shooed her away and after a while Heinrich took over the pursuit of the annoying stork," says Schulze. Now the two have become parents.

[sova]

Liz, thanks for the article!
I was wondering how the story ended...
Wouldn't have been bad if there had been a transmitter for the young stork... what a pity.

[Liz01]

sova ,you're welcome
here is a Latvian video
The offspring behave half like white storks, half like black storks.I don't know if that's a good thing. Do they understand each other then?
this breed was in a zoo

[Liz01]

Notecka

The last storklet is caught. after a few attacks, the Goshawk succeed . Storklet is fighting on the ground. Later it was found dead
I have neither words nor tears. I'm just shocked. I'm pretty sorry for all the they watched very closely this nest. It mus hurt.

[balistar]

I had hoped so much that at least this last one would survive and fledge

[Liz01]

Our volunteer has reached the nest. Unfortunately, the brave Okruszek is dead...


! We would like to remind you that our messages are live without any interference, so some scenes from the life of birds may be drastic for sensitive people.
Unfortunately, the worst happened and in the absence of adult birds, a hawk at 36 days old kidnapped Okruszek, the last chick of Notek and Nutki in the Sieraków Forest District.
This is not the fault of the storks, because according to their reproductive biology, they no longer guard such large chicks and devote all their time to gaining food. Noteworthy is the behavior of the male Notek, who devoted a lot of time to the last young and spent a long time with him on the nest. Several times he actively defended the brood against the hawk. The main problem is that this pair of storks started breeding several weeks late, so their chicks were too small to fend off predator attacks.
This is not the fault of the hawk, because according to its behavior, it attacks many young birds in the nests of various bird species. We don't see it every day, but mortality is a natural process that shapes the size of any population. Predators provide a delicate biological balance that we humans must not alter.
This is not the fault of humans, because the nest was recreated in exactly the same light conditions, under the treetops and at the same height as the old nest, which was destroyed due to the fall of the tree. The storks immediately accepted the new nest, which proves that the place and location are appropriate.
Thanks to online broadcasts, we already know that similar bird dramas are also happening in other nests and hawks, white-tailed eagles and martens snatch eggs and chicks from completely natural nests. What's more, thanks to research using camera traps, we also learned that last year in the western part of the country, the biggest enemy of storks' broods were not the above-mentioned predators, but ... other black storks (!) which destroyed the largest number of broods of their species at the egg stage.
We were all rooting for the youngest stork from the Sieraków Forest District. Unfortunately, he ran out of luck and literally a few days to put up an effective resistance to the hawk.
Contrary to the principle of non-interference in the course of our online broadcasts, an hour after the hawk attack, our volunteer was on site and confirmed that our storks chick is dead.
Let's respect the laws of Nature, which has chosen just such a solution.
BY ANDER

https://www.ciconianigra.sk/viewtopic.p ... 236#p20236

[Liz01]

The black stork, which usually nests in tall trees, built a nest directly on the ground in the Žďár region

This year, ornithologists in Vysočina discovered a bird rarity. The black stork, a very shy species that usually nests in tall trees, built its nest directly on the ground in the Žďár region. And she has cubs there too.

It is a completely unique nesting of the black stork. In a small forest near the D1 highway. Ornithologists are therefore now trying to protect the young in an unusual place before the parents teach them to fly.

©Tereza Pešoutová, Český rozhlas


©Tereza Pešoutová, Český rozhlas
Black stork chicks in an unusual nest built on the ground


"A random mushroom picker found young storks lying on the ground while walking through the rest of the forest that remained between the highway and the road. I found out that it is not a fallen nest, but that the storks built it directly on the ground," describes ornithologist Aleš Toman.

The storks adapted their diet to their unusual habitat.

author:
Tereza Pešoutová

Unfortunately, photographers have gone up to 5 meters to the nest.
https://vysocina.rozhlas.cz/cap-cerny-k ... il-9033249

[Liz01]

Rare offspring: white stork has chicks with black stork
Status: 07/18/2023 5:37 p.m

They are an unequal and so far probably also unique pair of storks: white stork "Heinrich" has a new one. With a black stork, he gave birth to young in his eyrie in the district of Uelzen.




video here:
https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/niedersa ... ar122.html

[sova]

Liz, thanks for the interesting info...don't know what to think. But they are beautiful.
I was also wondering how the food delivery works. The gentleman in the video gave me an answer.

[Liz01]

sova, yes, it's interesting, but like you, I don't know if what we're seeing is good.

[Liz01]

Dachverband Deutscher Avifaunisten

Rare mixed breed: black stork has chicks with white stork
What is probably the world's first documented mixed breed between black and white storks in the wild is currently taking place in Lüder (Uelzen district) in Lower Saxony. A female black stork and a male white stork met there in the spring. The female black stork had attracted attention in previous years due to unsuccessful attempts to make contact with white storks. Due to a markedly different ecology between the species, there has been some disagreement regarding nest building among the mismatched pair. The chosen artificial white stork nest was provided with moss by the black stork, while the white stork removed it and put grass in the nest cavity instead. On April 19, three eggs were laid, from which two young birds hatched from May 20, both of which are completely different in color. Both parents also disagree when it comes to finding food for the offspring: while the white stork brings mice and insects to the nest, the black stork catches fish. Both young birds are still developing splendidly and are expected to fledge in about a week. Thanks to their striking coloration, the two "grey storks" will hopefully draw attention elsewhere, so that their further stations can perhaps be followed. A detailed publication on the unusual mixed breed is in progress.
Photos © Joachim Neumann

Parents


Kiddos

[Liz01]

Mixed couple also observed in the Czech Republic

here the male is Black Stork




A black stork mated with a female white stork
50 kilometers away in Horní Cerekv, in mid-April, a male black stork and a female white stork were observed mating on the nest. In this case, there was no nesting, but only a few matings. "The black stork's nest was destroyed during the felling of the forest, so he tried to nest on the nearest comparably large nest in the vicinity. He took advantage of the moments when the male white stork was not on the nest. Now we know that the domestic male has definitively driven out the intruders, so the nesting of white storks continues," says Stanislav Chvapil, head of the Wading Bird Research Group (Ciconiiformes) of the Czech and Slovak Republics at the CSO.

https://www.birdlife.cz/stejnopohlavni- ... vSarhE8Xus

[Liz01]

©Petra Biermann- Bundesarbeitsgruppe Weißstorch NABU


the whole family


they are just beautiful


more beautiful pictures and information
https://www.facebook.com/groups/3897557 ... 6405797019

[Liz01]

Jauns.lv - Lativia
https://jauns.lv/raksts/maja-un-darzs/5 ... pecnacejus

The first officially documented case of a white and black stork interbreeding. Birds of both species have mated and hatched two young in Lower Saxony, Germany.

The female black stork and the white male got together this spring. In addition, it was already observed in previous years that the female casts her eyes on the white storks. The two species have differences in behavior, the black stork lined the nest with moss, while the white stork removed it and moved grass instead.

Despite these disagreements, three eggs were laid on April 19th and two young hatched on May 20th. The opinions of the parents also differ about feeding the storks: the white brought mice and insects, the black brought fish. The food has been varied enough, the storks are well developed. However, most likely these interspecies hybrids will be infertile, much like a mule is the offspring of a horse and a donkey.

[sova]

yes Liz....they are really beautiful

[tsang6482]

Our volunteer has reached the nest. Unfortunately, the brave Okruszek is dead...

I'd like to know if there are any photos taken at the scene.
I understand that it's not pleasant either.

[Liz01]

I think so. And I hope they left it there for the goshawk. otherwise it would have died in vain.

[Liz01]

As of now, these are the names of the two now internationally known fledglings from the mixed pair of a Black and White Stork in Lüder, Lower Saxony, Germany. The sex could now be clarified on the basis of analyses: the larger, darker young bird is a male and is now called Ludger (derived from the name Lüder, the birthplace of the young birds), the younger sister is called Lina. In the coming days both will leave the nest

Photos (c) Joachim Neumann / Arne Torkler

[Liz01]

and ©Petra Biermann




for me the male storklet looks like almost a black stork. They may be infertile. At least the mixed breeds in the zoos are

for anyone interested:
NABU: Worldwide unique stork family
https://www.nabu.de/news/2023/07/33691. ... +NABU-News

NABU: Stork love black & White
https://niedersachsen.nabu.de/tiere-und ... 33674.html

all pics and info are from: https://www.facebook.com/groups/storchennachrichten

To be honest, I'm not at all thrilled about this. It shows that something is wrong. I wish that the female will fly to Estonia next year. best to the Jan & Janikas nest, together with a black stork male