The land of storks: stories of a friendship that knows no obstacles from Turkey to Calabria

The most intriguing story seems to come out of an Aesop’s fairy tale. The protagonist is the fisherman Adem, who lives in the village of Eskikaraagac, in Turkey, on the shore of Lake Uluabat: for everyone he has always been simply Uncle Adem. Eleven years ago a special friendship began between him and a stork, which perched on his boat and has been back on time every year ever since. Recognizing him and participating in his fishing trips, for six months a year. And besides here, a Eskikaraagac, it happens that each of the white stork’s nests is “adopted” by the closest family, especially by its younger member: the children become, in a certain sense, responsible.

In International Day of Migratory Birds and Birdwatching, the Eurobirdwatch, the white stork becomes an icon. And that of Uncle Adem is an exemplary story, not the only one: many lead to the villages that, throughout Europe, from Hungary to Macedonia, from Spain to Romania, are part of the European Stork Village Network (ESVN): examples virtuous in which good practices for the conservation of this species take shape. Practices that take shape from an initial consideration: the white stork is a sociable animal, which can coexist with humans and, indeed, tries to nest even in the immediate vicinity of inhabited centers. Arriving in the nesting areas between February and March and staying there for several months, before migrating to Africa, where they overwinter. “Birds teach us that geopolitical boundaries are the sole prerogative of humans,” he explains Ilka Beermanamong the managers of the network and project manager of EuroNatur.

And this is truly a story of friendship between man and animal. In Serbiafor example, the town of Taraš looks forward to storks every year. And even an association was born, “Taraš Storks”, which helps to protect them and organizes a festival with the involvement of children: for each pair of storks that nest here, a symbolic balloon is thrown. The mascot, here, is called Prvoje: in Serbian means “before”. “They baptized it like this because it beats everyone on time”, explains Aleksandra, who chairs the association and who, not without a touch of pride, explains that even the local media compete every year to announce her I arrive.

Love beyond disabilities

From Croatia, on the other hand, comes the tear-jerking story of stork Malena, also this one with decidedly fairytale contours: a former janitor, Stjepan, adopted it by hosting her at home for several years. The bird could not fly and so she found in the man an affable and caring host, who even helped her find her love in Klepetana male specimen who for years has regularly returned to her, forming a tenacious distant couple: love beyond disability, it seems.

A story similar to the one he tells András Márton, specialized in bird rescue and manager of the busy Facebook page “Birdmania”. The story comes from Hungary: the protagonist is Macus, male stork, also permanently injured. He has lived for years in the garden of the Márton house and it is here that Sophie, his partner, returns from Africa every year to mate and give birth to the young.

And if the number of active pairs of white storks it is growing, despite anthropogenic obstacles such as electric cables, skyscrapers, poaching and – last but not least – extreme climatic events, it is certainly also due to the passion with which many, around Europe, continue to welcome them.

To Morocco to help archaeologists and storks

Instead, another story of protection and conservation comes from Morocco, protagonists the white storks and an Italian ornithologist, Rosario Balestrieri. Flew to Rabat to work out a strategy capable of preventing the restoration of the archaeological site of Volubilis, one of the most extreme offshoots of the Roman Empire, from interfering with the nesting of over eighty pairs of storks. The project of the Department of Historical Sciences and Cultural Heritage of the University of Siena was aimed at reconciling the need for the enhancement of the archaeological heritage with the need to protect the storks from the disturbance that usually accompanies restoration work. And that, in this case, could have led to the abandonment of the site. “I analyzed all the nests, one by one, giving the archaeologists a report that governs the times and methods of intervention to minimize the disturbance”, says Baleestrieri. “My greatest satisfaction? To think that today anyone who visits the archaeological site as well as admiring the restored beauty of the archaeological site will be able to live the unique experience of walking among the storks, an integral part of the history of Volubilis”.

So Calabria attracted the storks

And even Italy, although not part of the European Stork Village Network, has its own extraordinary history in terms of storks. Comes from Calabria, the protagonist is Roberto Santopaolo, 59 years old, since 1986 in charge – as a volunteer – of the Lipu section of Rende. He can be called a life alongside the storks in all respects. “For a long time I have observed that the storks passed through here, in the course of theirs migration routes, flying over the Crati valley, but which did not stop, nesting elsewhere. -tells him-And I was wondering why. For the poaching perhaps? Yet elsewhere, from Lombardy to Piedmont, they stopped. I came to the hypothesis that in this area there were no potential sites where to make nests, such as bell towers and towers and the electric pylons, which storks often choose, were not suitable for nesting. “So Roberto gathered together the friends of the Lipu and in 2002, with the collaboration of Enel, today E-Distribuzione, began building artificial wooden platforms, borrowing a similar experience from Northern Europe.

“In the first years nothing happened – he says – and someone even made fun of us. Then, in 2007, a first couple chose one of our platforms. And since then it has been a continuous growth”. So much so that in 2022 they arrived here, between Crati valleythe plain of Sibari and the Esaro Valley, 34 pairs of storks and of these 31 chose one of the 94 nesting platforms installed. A success, in short. “Our ‘White Stork’ project has grown – nods Roberto – and for three years we have been ringing the young for scientific purposes. So this year, for the first time, we happened to observe two individuals born here in 2019 and therefore returned to Calabria once sexual maturity is reached “. The installation of a webcam on an artificial platform was particularly successful: up to five thousand people connected every day to stay updated on the growth of two children, baptized as Calabria Arintha And Maverick. In Rende they are waiting for them again for next spring, it is to be imagined that they will not be late.

“Ours is a story of tenacity – explains Roberto – thanks to which we have given an added value, also in terms of tourist potential, to this area. We did it without funding, as volunteers, with the determination of those who love storks. Here we bring the schoolchildren: the children observe the storks and learn to love them “.

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