Migratory birds still around after unusually warm fall

While migratory birds generally head South before November, due to the unusually warm and long fall, they haven't left Hungary yet, reports RTLklub.hu.

The birds, however, are not in danger even if temperatures drop suddenly. Storks are capable of flying hundreds of kilometers in a short time. The "lazier" of the birds might even stay throughout the winter if temperatures remain mild.

"If the winter isn't harsh, and some corn remains in the fields, it is possible that a few hundred birds might stay," said László Kotymán environmentalist.

In early December, some 11,000 storks were counted in the Körös-Maros National Park, a very unusual statistic for this time of the year. Should cold weather set in, the birds are capable of reaching the warmer Mediterranean area in just a few hours.

The storks usually arrive at their summer homes in Europe in late March and early April. There are two varieties indigenous to Hungary, the White Stork (Fehér Gólya) and the Black Stork (Fekete Gólya).

Both White and Black Storks spend March to October here before heading south to sub-Saharan Africa. Black storks are reclusive, forest- and marsh-dwelling birds so you are likelier to see the more common White Stork (Ciconia ciconia), with its long red legs, pointed bill, white body and black tipped wings. White storks are anything but reclusive. They traditionally built their nests on houses but have more recently moved to telephone poles. Today, it is estimated that 80% of stork couples nest on telephone poles. It remains a mystery to experts why storks like to live among people, but it certainly makes them easy to find and very photogenic.

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