- Zustand: eingeschriebener Brief, registered cover
- Jahr: 2013
Iltalien, Italia, Austria, Österreich, Österikke, Itä Valta,
Autriche
Der
Weißstorch (
Ciconia ciconia) ist eine
Vogelart aus der
Familie der
Störche (Ciconiidae). Er war 1984 und 1994 in
Deutschland
Vogel des Jahres.
The
White Stork (
Ciconia ciconia) is a
large
bird in the
stork family Ciconiidae. Its
plumage is mainly
white, with black on its wings. Adults have long red legs and long
pointed red beaks, and measure on average 100–115 cm
(39–45 in) from beak tip to end of tail, with a 155–215
cm (61–85 in) wingspan. The two
subspecies, which differ slightly in size,
breed in Europe (north to
Finland), northwestern Africa, southwestern Asia
(east to southern
Kazakhstan) and southern Africa. The White Stork
is a long-distance
migrant, wintering in Africa from tropical
Sub-Saharan Africa to as far south as
South Africa,
or on the
Indian subcontinent. When migrating
between Europe and Africa, it avoids crossing the
Mediterranean
Sea and detours via the
Levant in the east or the
Strait of
Gibraltar in the west, because the air
thermals on which it
depends do not form over water.
A
carnivore, the
White Stork eats a wide range of animal prey, including insects,
fish, amphibians, reptiles, small mammals and small birds. It takes
most of its food from the ground, among low vegetation, and from
shallow water. It is a
monogamous breeder, but
does not
pair for
life. Both members of the pair build a large stick nest, which
may be used for several years. Each year the female can lay one
clutch of
usually four eggs, which hatch
asynchronously 33–34 days after
being laid. Both parents take turns incubating the eggs and both
feed the young. The young leave the nest 58–64 days after
hatching, and continue to be fed by the parents for a further
7–20 days.
The White Stork has been rated as
Least Concern by the
International
Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It benefited from
human activities during the
Middle Ages as woodland was cleared, but changes
in farming methods and industrialisation saw it decline and
disappear from parts of Europe in the 19th and early 20th
centuries. Conservation and
reintroduction programs across Europe have
resulted in the White Stork resuming breeding in the Netherlands,
Belgium, Switzerland and Sweden. It has few natural predators, but
may harbour several types of parasite; the plumage is home to
chewing lice and feather mites, while the large
nests maintain a diverse range of
mesostigmatic mites. This conspicuous
species has given rise to many legends across its range, of which
the best-known is the story of babies being brought by storks.
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