Black Storks, Rome, 08/19/2013 - wild birds or escapees? (1 Viewer)

S

Sangahyando

Well-known member

• Aug 26, 2013

• #1

I don't know where to put this really, but since the identification is not in doubt (unless there's a dumb oversight on my part), and the actual question is not directly ID-related, I've decided to post this here.

Three of these chaps were circling over Rome (the one in Italy, in case there are any other places by that name), between the Arch of Constantine and the Colosseum, on August 19th. There were some YLG as well (probably local residents), and one of the local kestrels seemed to be mobbing the storks. They were quite high up (but still easy to identify), eventually flying away, and the picture was shot with a 15x zoom. It's also heavily cropped to fit the size restrictions for uploads.
Is there any way of telling whether these birds are early migrants or just escapees from a local facility?

 

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dalat

...

• Aug 26, 2013

• #2

Hi, nothing wrong with migrants at this time I think. It's probably not yet peak time and not the main migration route, but not too unlikely either. Not sure if 3 escapees would be more likely.

 

Z

Zheljko

Well-known member

• Aug 26, 2013

• #3

Migrating Black Storks were seen in Serbia last week. I don't know if this species breeds in Italy? Maybe they were just local breeding birds or dispersing juveniles.

 

John Cantelo

Well-known member

• Aug 26, 2013

• #4

Since Black Stork migrate from eastern Europe across the Straits of Messina, Sicily and on to Africa and the birds will be migrating in late August, I see no reason why they shouldn't be genuine migrants rather than escapees,

 

MJB

Well-known member

• Aug 26, 2013

• #5

John Cantelo said:

Since Black Stork migrate from eastern Europe across the Straits of Messina, Sicily and on to Africa and the birds will be migrating in late August, I see no reason why they shouldn't be genuine migrants rather than escapees,

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Agreed. There is a migration divide: see attached, courtesy Wikipedia.
MJB

 

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Andy Hurley

Gotta love nature!

Opus Editor

Supporter

• Aug 26, 2013

• #6

I saw Black Storks near Paderborn on the 6th Aug. they stayed a week and moved on. I don't know if they were early migrants, but they have been seen quite frequently, Not just the ones that I saw, in our region.

 

S

Sangahyando

Well-known member

• Aug 26, 2013

• #7

Thanks for the answers everybody. What struck me as odd was the location, right above the centre of a large city. One of the last places you'd expect a large, rare, and rather shy woodland bird to turn up. Then again, I suppose there are good thermals there.
Does this mean I can comfortably "tick" this as a lifer?

 

dalat

...

• Aug 26, 2013

• #8

Congratulations to your lifer!

Yes, on migration they can flow over any place, and a hot city centre may indeed cause good upward winds that they use to gain height...

 

Z

Zheljko

Well-known member

• Aug 27, 2013

• #9

Sangahyando said:

What struck me as odd was the location, right above the centre of a large city. One of the last places you'd expect a large, rare, and rather shy woodland bird to turn up. Then again, I suppose there are good thermals there.
Does this mean I can comfortably "tick" this as a lifer?

Click to expand...

I did
But we have a large forested island at the confluence, which would be just next to the center of city, and when I looked up (I was trying to fill my water bottle at the drinking fountain, well, the silly bottle was too large to fit inside the "sink" so I guess I was doing it for a few minutes), the stork was flying above the edge of the island as if determining whether to try to land on one of the trees. My first thought was large bird=White-tailed Eagle, wait, no screaming crows flying around it, oh, that's a Black Stork, can it be anything else? no, it is just looking in the opposite direction than in field guide, that's why it looks a bit strange.