Spring's heralds in peril. The alarming diet shift of storks

Discussing the harbingers of spring, one cannot omit the white stork. The first individuals have already settled throughout Poland. Have you ever wondered what storks eat? Most will say frogs, but the truth is much more alarming.

Storks are hard to confuse with any other species. These proud birds with long legs are often spotted in meadows and wetlands in search of food. While we might think we know their diet, recent studies have shown that storks, in addition to frogs, consume items that should definitely not be part of it.

The white stork is such a large bird that eating seeds and fruits doesn't fulfil its dietary needs. Its diet mainly consists of small animals it can easily catch. Storks often forage in wetlands, hunting for snails, beetles, and leeches. They pursue mice, voles, and moles in meadows and sometimes snatch chicks from another bird's nest!

Frogs are traditionally thought to be the stork's primary food. Indeed, storks do eat them, but not as frequently as we might think. Frogs are merely a supplement to their diet, especially since amphibian numbers have significantly declined in recent years. Interestingly, young storks are fed primarily earthworms right after hatching, and only later do they start to eat larger prey. If a nest houses four young storks, the parents must bring back roughly 3 kilograms of food daily.

Storks cannot digest bones, shells, and fur, so these "wastes" are expelled as regurgitated pellets, forming in the bird's stomach. These pellets are often found in and around the nest, allowing scientists to study the stork's diet.

The details mentioned earlier about the stork's diet are very current, yet a recent study has identified another type of 'food' that storks are now ingesting. Birds have started to consume trash, predominantly plastic and cigarette filters. With trash becoming more accessible near their nesting sites, some storks have started consuming it, mistaking it for natural prey.

This troubling trend worries biologists globally. Consuming trash poses a serious threat to stork populations, potentially leading to mass deaths due to poisoning from human refuse. Nature is taking an undesirable turn, and unless humanity adopts more eco-friendly lifestyles, the majestic stork may face extinction, erasing a traditional sign of spring.