Appearance
The black stork is a large, 95 to 105-centimetre-long bird. Standing, its height reaches above 1 metre. Its weight does not exceed three kilograms. The characteristic feature of the black stork are its long red legs, a long neck and a pointed bill.
Occurrence, character and species protection
It builds its nests in vast, old wet forests with rivers and swamps. Its nests are usually hidden high in the tree crown, sometimes, the black stork locates its nests on rocks or below rock overhangs in the mountain areas. By nature, it is timid and secretive. Interestingly, it departs a month later than the white stork. It spends winters in Africa. It mainly feeds on amphibians and insects.
In Poland, this bird is subject to strict species protection. According to reports, the population of the black stork in our country is estimated at around 2000 pairs. You can encounter it throughout Poland, in the Land of Extinct Volcanoes Geopark, it occurs, among others, in the “Chełmy” Landscape Park.
It should be remembered that this is an extremely timid species, and when encountering it, we should be careful to avoid disturbing this beautiful animal.
