White storks are tall, elegant birds with white feathers, black wingtips, a bright red beak and long red legs. They stand about one metre tall — roughly the same height as a six-year-old child. Their wingspan can reach more than two metres, which makes them look magnificent gliding through the sky.
Storks build some of the biggest nests in the bird world. They pile up sticks year after year, and the same nest is often used for decades by the same pair or their descendants. Some Latvian stork nests weigh hundreds of kilograms and are wider than a dining table.
Latvia has one of the highest densities of white storks in Europe. The Latvian countryside is ideal for them because there are so many wet meadows, riverbanks and shallow ditches where storks hunt for frogs, insects, small fish and worms. They have very good eyesight and can spot a frog from high in the air.
In late summer, all the storks gather into large flocks and begin the long journey back to Africa — a trip of thousands of kilometres. They use warm rising air called thermals to glide much of the way without flapping their wings. The same birds often return to the same Latvian nest the following spring.