Black stork (Ciconia nigra) (Linnaeus,1758) Μαυροπελαργός - Cyprus

The black stork (Ciconia nigra) is a large wading bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. It is a widespread, but uncommon, species that breeds in the warmer parts of Europe (predominantly in central and eastern regions), across temperate Asia and Southern Africa. This is a shy and wary species, unlike the closely related white stork. It is seen in pairs or small flocks—in marshy areas, rivers or inland waters. The black stork feeds on amphibians and insects.

During the summer, the black stork is found from Eastern Asia (Siberia and China) west to Central Europe, reaching Estonia in the north,Poland, Lower Saxony and Bavaria in Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy and Greece in the south, with an outlying population in Spain and Portugal. They are not abundant in these western parts of their distribution, but more densely inhabit the eastern Transcaucasus. A population of black storks is also resident in Southern Africa.

Preferring more wooded areas than the better known white stork, the black stork breeds in large marshy wetlands with interspersed coniferous or broadleaved woodlands, but also inhabits hillsand mountains with sufficient networks of creeks. It inhabits more areas in the Caspian lowlands

The black stork builds a stick nest high in trees or on cliffs. It nests in Central Europe in April to May, and is a winter visitor to northern India, Nepal east to Myanmar.

Black stork parents have been known to kill one of their young, generally the smallest, in times of food shortage to reduce brood size and hence increase the chance of survival of the remaining nestlings. Stork nestlings do not attack each other, and their parents' method of feeding them (disgorging large amounts of food at once) means that stronger siblings cannot outcompete weaker ones for food directly, hence parental infanticide is an efficient way of reducing brood size. Despite this, this behaviour has not commonly been observed.  from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Photos and video Zakaki, 28/10/2014 by George Konstantinou