Black stork

The black stork is a large wading bird. An adult is recognized by its black plumage, white underparts, long red legs and a long pointed red beak. Its plumage has a green and purple gloss. A juvenile is duller and brown colored with greenish-grey bare parts.

The birds are long-distance migrants, meaning that they can be found widely across Europe and Asia. But, they are not very common. The bird is under top-class state protection in China.

Black stork and Beijing

Who would ever think that this shy bird would have anything to do with busy, metropolitan Beijing?

A little over a hundred kilometers southwest from the hustle and bustle of the city center, in Shidu Town of Fangshan District, mountains and rivers replace skyscrapers to form a landscape that is different than the stereotypical image of a city shrouded in haze.

In 2015, the Chinese National Geographic reported a black stork female in Shidu giving birth to four offspring every year for three years in a row, and thus being nicknamed "hero mom" by ecstatic bird experts.

In the spring of 2019, Xinhua News Agency reported on a couple living in the town volunteering to protect the birds by providing them with fish.

Other reports say that over 70 of these birds were recorded in the town in 2014.

Shidu thus offers a home for the storks. Some of these migratory birds stay in the town all year round.

Protection

Being an animal species under top-class state protection in China means that the stork is being watched by hundreds of nature reserves across the country.

The Chinese people even call the stork "giant panda bird", emphasizing how it is loved and valued by the nation.

One prominent reserve is designated especially for the bird in Lingqiu County of north China's Shanxi Province.

New threat

Habitat loss and poaching have been two of the significant threats for all migratory birds, and this is no exception for the black stork.

But in recent years, electricity facilities are becoming another threat. Incidents of birds being killed after hitting power lines or poles happen almost every year.

In 2009, six black-necked cranes died after they crashed into power poles in southwest China's Yunnan Province.

Some nature reserves have already realized this problem and thus are removing abandoned facilities.

Read more:

Birdwatching China: Why is Poyang Lake so vital to Siberian cranes?

Birdwatching China: The lady crane that surmounts the Himalayas

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at nature@cgtn.com.)