Conservationists report a record number of stork nests in Thuringia for 2022. But that no longer means fledged young storks.
Jena (dpa/th) – According to the Nature Conservation Union (Nabu) Thuringia, more white stork nests than ever were occupied in Thuringia in 2022. In the breeding season, a total of 123 white stork nests were nested in the Free State, as the Nabu Thuringia informed on Tuesday in its stork balance sheet for 2022. “For the Free State, this means a new record,” said stork expert Klaus Schmidt of Nabu Thüringen. According to the expert, who has been involved in the registration and documentation of breeding storks in the country on a voluntary basis for 57 years, in 2021 there were still 112.
In 2012, 36 pairs of storks bred in Bavaria. The number of breeding pairs of white storks has thus more than tripled in Thuringia in the last ten years – according to Nabu “a success for species and nature conservation”. Protective measures to preserve and improve habitats and the construction of conveniently located nesting sites contribute to the reproduction of storks. In addition, bird protection fittings on dangerous power poles showed a positive effect on the lifespan of the storks.
As a result of global warming, white storks are returning to their breeding grounds in Thuringia earlier and earlier, Schmidt reported. In the Werra area, many breeding birds were already registered locally at the end of February, and by mid-March it was 90 percent “and on March 25, the previous year’s breeding stock of 58 old storks was completely reached,” said Schmidt. “It was different 50 years ago, because the majority of the native white storks only came back in April,” said Schmidt.
The first couples started laying eggs in March. According to Schmidt, due to good weather conditions, the animals found enough food for their offspring and were successful in breeding. However, storks that breed late due to territorial wars and the young storks busy with resettling slipped into the long dry and hot period. This made it difficult for the chicks to find food. Despite the larger number of occupied nests, only 207 young storks fledged. “That’s 26 fewer than last year,” said Schmidt. Both white storks and black storks, which are rarer in Thuringia, keep their young in the nest for about five weeks.