Storks unable to migrate thrive in river delta

SAMSUN

The Kızılırmak Delta Wetland and Bird Sanctuary, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List, has now become a home to storks that are incapable of migrating to warmer climates and have started breeding there.

While the majority of the storks in the northern province of Samsun’s Kızılırmak delta have migrated toward warmer climates in the south around late August, the adult storks that could not fly or have injuries have remained in the area.

Speaking to local media, Kadir Yılmaz, Kızılırmak birds paradise and wetlands supervisor, said there are plenty of sheltering, feeding and breeding areas for the remaining storks in the area.

“There are around 950 pairs of storks in the delta. This number is increasing each year gradually. While storks usually nest on human-made structures such as roofs, chimneys, electricity and telephone poles, in the delta, 97 percent of the nests are on trees,” he remarked, emphasizing that the region allows animals to nest comfortably in nature.

“While the stork population is declining across the country, we observe an increase in the delta. The reason for this is the abundance of food resources in the delta. Storks can raise their young here, up to three or four chicks. After an average incubation period of one month, we start to see baby storks in the nests in the region,” he added.

Stating that the baby storks become adults around August each year, and then they are ready to migrate to the south, Yılmaz said that when the storks complete their migration trip, during which they can fly up to 200 kilometers each day, they spend the winter in Mozambique, Kenya or Egypt, and return to the delta again in March as the harbinger of summer.