Storks are big birds — with wings spread out they can measure up to two metres from tip to tip. They are expert gliders, using rising columns of warm air called thermals to carry them high into the sky without flapping. A stork on migration barely needs to beat its wings; it just tilts and circles upward.
White storks love meadows, marshes and farmland where they can wade through the grass hunting for frogs, large insects, mice and earthworms. Their long legs mean they can stride through shallow water without getting their body wet, stabbing downward with that impressive red beak.
Storks build enormous nests made of sticks, usually on the tops of tall chimneys, rooftops or special platforms put up for them by people who love to see them. The same nest is used year after year, with the pair adding more sticks each time, until some nests weigh as much as a small car.
In Luxembourg storks were once rare, but thanks to careful conservation work — protecting meadows and putting up nesting platforms — they are slowly coming back. Seeing a stork flying overhead on wide black-and-white wings is a real treat.