Commemorating Stork Day on Friday, August 24, institutions dealing with this bird species reported that that across Europe there are some 220,000 couples of storks living, mostly in Poland and Ukraine, whereas in Croatia there are an estimated 1,300 couples of these birds.

In Croatia, the largest number of storks can be found in the area around Zagreb – where some 250 pairs of storks nest regularly – and the Sisak-Moslavina County in central Croatia.

The biggest threat to stork populations are changes in their habitat related to modern agriculture practices, including the draining of swamps. There are 20 species of stork identified worldwide, whereas in Croatia there are white and black storks.

Storks are migratory birds, who come to Croatia in the spring and remain in the country until late summer when they migrate back to Africa. The white stork is an endangered species and its survival is dependent on retaining traditional village life.

They prefer damp fields and traditionally cultivated farmland as this provides the most appropriate feeding ground for the stork.

The most famous Croatian stork is a male nicknamed Klepetan who has been flying to the same rooftop in a village near the eastern town of Slavonski Brod every year for 14 years, for a spring reunion with his partner, nicknamed Malena – a female whose crippled wing does not allow it to fly to Africa.

The faithful Klepetan returns every year to Malena in eastern Croatia after a 5,000-mile migration, and his arrival is highly anticipated and reported on in the national media.

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