Chub Storks: Successful offspring and ringed young animals!

Chub Storks: Successful offspring and ringed young animals!

There is reason to be happy in Döbeln: the storks have had plenty of offspring this year. Kai Schaarschmidt, the stork representative for Central Saxony, was on duty again this week to ring the feathered residents of a historic industrial facility. Over the past four years, a pair of storks have built a nest on a 26-meter-high chimney at the Daniel car dealership and are raising three young animals this year.

In the first year of settlement, four chicks hatched, but raising the little storks was not always without difficulties. Breeding success only failed once, and that was due to a lack of food. However, this year the food supply is optimal, which is reflected in the good nutritional status of the three young birds. Two of them are larger than the third, which hatched a little later.

The ringing of the young animals

Ringing is an important measure for researching storks. During his inspections, Schaarschmidt attaches the rings using a special climbing set and iron rods. Since the ringing is done on the left leg in odd-numbered years, the newcomers come with a sturdy plastic ring and a metal ring. On average, storks live between eight and ten years, but the oldest known stork has reached the impressive age of 30.

To get to the nests, the stork representative climbs the high chimneys in his free time, as he does not have access to all private properties. In total he has already ringed 36 young this year. In Hartha there is another nest with four young storks, while in Polditz, the oldest stork location, no breeding success was recorded this time.

Storks under observation

The accompaniment of the ringing process is not only of a regional nature. In other regions of Germany, stork representatives have taken on similar tasks. As an example, both report Markus Hörster about the ringing of young storks in Osterode am Fallstein as well as that NPZ, which explains how the rings are put on the storks. In Switzerland, where young animals are equipped with rings on their right legs, it is preferred to ring them in even years. These different approaches show how important exchange and cooperation between stork representatives are.

At the end of the day it will be seen whether the measures will bear fruit. Reza Rahmati, the owner of the property, was initially not enthusiastic about the storks because their droppings splashed his used cars. But he might increasingly be able to recognize the advantages of the flock of storks, which are increasingly developing into a magical part of the Döbeln cityscape.