My Planet Experience
White Storks ready for nesting
Couple of White Storks - Ciconia ciconia - standing in their nest and noisy bill-clattering - Dombes, France
The adult White Stork's main sound is noisy bill-clattering, which has been likened to distant machine gun fire. The bird makes these sounds by rapidly opening and closing its beak so that a knocking sound is made each time its beak closes. The clattering is amplified by its throat pouch, which acts as a resonator.
The bill-clattering is often part of a greeting ceremony between adults at the nest where one or both birds may throw their heads backwards until the bill is upside-down and almost touching their backs. Bill-clattering is sometimes performed unforgettably by large flocks of migrant birds especially when they are about to tumble out of the sky in search of a roosting site.
In many parts of Europe the White stork is an unmissable bird, attending to its huge nests on the rooftops and telegraph poles of numerous towns and villages. It is unmistakable, with a white body, mostly black wings, red legs and a long red bill.
Breeds in towns and villages on the tops of roofs and poles or, in colonies, in trees in open parkland. Feeds mostly in fields and meadows.
White Storks ready for nesting
Couple of White Storks - Ciconia ciconia - standing in their nest and noisy bill-clattering - Dombes, France
The adult White Stork's main sound is noisy bill-clattering, which has been likened to distant machine gun fire. The bird makes these sounds by rapidly opening and closing its beak so that a knocking sound is made each time its beak closes. The clattering is amplified by its throat pouch, which acts as a resonator.
The bill-clattering is often part of a greeting ceremony between adults at the nest where one or both birds may throw their heads backwards until the bill is upside-down and almost touching their backs. Bill-clattering is sometimes performed unforgettably by large flocks of migrant birds especially when they are about to tumble out of the sky in search of a roosting site.
In many parts of Europe the White stork is an unmissable bird, attending to its huge nests on the rooftops and telegraph poles of numerous towns and villages. It is unmistakable, with a white body, mostly black wings, red legs and a long red bill.
Breeds in towns and villages on the tops of roofs and poles or, in colonies, in trees in open parkland. Feeds mostly in fields and meadows.