24.08.2018.
The white stork is one of the most popular species of birds in Croatia, thanks to the love story of the famous stork couple – Klepetan and Malena – that gained great nationwide popularity. The storks’ life is inextricably entwined with the peoples’ lives. They build nests in the immediate vicinity of the people – on the roofs of houses, on utility poles, on the roofs of barns and churches, and they forage for food in the fields. It has never been explained why the storks prefer to build their nests in the vicinity of people, but they have been doing it for centuries. On average, there are three chicks in one nest, and it has been observed that more chicks hatch in the nests on the utility poles, with an average of four per nest. The settlement in Zagreb County boasting the highest number of storks is Donja Kupčina in Pisarovina, with the recent count of nests of around 40. The oldest nest is located in Posavski Bregi near Ivanić-Grad, where storks have ben nesting on one particular chimney continually for over two decades. Therefore, it can be concluded that the survival of storks is dependent on the way of life of the people in whose neighbourhood they nest.
As part of the project “Protection and preservation of the white stork”, 517 nests on the territories of 11 counties were reported this year. White storks’ nests are often found on the roofs of houses or other structures, so the owners get a fee in the amount of 700 kuna per nest in order to preserve the environment and biological diversity of which the Fund co-finances 50%, while the remaining 50% is financed by the counties. The total value of the project amounts approximately HRK 360.000, in which the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund participates with 180.000 kuna.
This year, as in the previous years, the highest number of storks’ nests was located in Sisak-Moslavina County, around 200. It is followed by Zagreb County with 100 nests, and Brod-Posavina County with 70 white storks’ nests.
From 180.000 to 220.000 pairs of storks nest across Europe, mostly in Poland and Ukraine. The estimated number of stork pairs in Croatia is around 1300 pairs, of which almost half, around 550 pairs, nest along the River Sava.
