Oriental Stork

Black-billed Stork ( Ciconia boyciana )

The Black-billed Stork ( Ciconia boyciana ), also referred to as Oriental White Stork, is an endangered Asian Schreitvogelart.

Description

The 100-115 cm Black-billed stork is difficult to 5 kg. From the White Stork (Ciconia ciconia), which it is associated by some authors as a subspecies, it differs by the black beak and his total of more powerful appearance and size. In captivity, the oldest bird was 48 years old. In addition to insects, fish and amphibians he also eats small reptiles and mammals.

Occurrence

The Black-billed Stork breeds in northeastern China and southeastern Siberia in the Amur and Ussuri on. He wintered in southern China on the lower Yangtze River, but also with a few animals in Hong Kong. During the bird migration, the stork can be seen elsewhere in China, Korea and Japan. This habitat includes wetlands and swamps with scattered trees.

Reproduction

The Black-billed stork nests far away from human settlements in areas with forest, reed and sedge meadows. Since this bird occupies a fixed area, he is aggressive towards conspecifics. He builds a single nest of dead twigs, which is lined with grass on a tree, which offers a view of the surroundings. The nest consists of two to six eggs.

Stock

In 1994 the stock was estimated at 2,500 birds. The reasons for the decline of the stock draining of wetlands for agriculture, overfishing and human disturbance are called. Therefore, the bird in Russia, China, South Korea and Japan is protected. The breeding in captivity has proved difficult because of the aggression of the male over the female.