Storks return from winter quarters to Marchegg – 2023 brought more breeding pairs, but fewer young birds – WWF floodplain reserve offers excellent living conditions
Wien/Marchegg (OTS) – The first white stork of the year landed in the WWF floodplain reserve in Marchegg – a week earlier than last year and around three weeks earlier than usual, which is probably due to the winter being much too warm. Many more storks are expected in the Lower Austrian March-Thaya floodplains in the coming weeks. “The first stork of this year was also the winner in 2023 – we recognized him by his ring. This stork has once again managed to outpace its fellow storks by a whole day over a distance of around 10,000 kilometers,” says species conservation expert Jurrien Westerhof from WWF Austria. “For our winged seasonal guests, recycling and sustainability are a given. That’s why spring cleaning is now the order of the day for her. “In this way, they prepare their old nests in the oak trees of the WWF floodplain reserve, at Marchegg Castle and in the surrounding area for the breeding season, which begins in April,” says Jurrien Westerhof.
2023 was a good year for the storks in the WWF Marchegg floodplain reserve: 43 pairs bred successfully – six more than in 2022, a new high in the past ten years. A total of 92 young birds fledged. However, due to the relatively cold and wet spring of 2023, their number fell short of the very high value of 2022, when 108 young birds fledged. However, the number of breeding pairs is steadily declining in the entire March-Thaya area – this once again underlines the importance of the WWF floodplain reserve. “The importance of the Marchegg storks is becoming ever greater for the overall population in the east of Lower Austria because the number of breeding pairs is decreasing overall,” says Jurrien Westerhof. Only six pairs were breeding in the upper March-Thaya area, while at the peak in 1996 35 pairs were breeding between Bernhardsthal and Angern alone. The reason for the decline is most likely the absence of the previously usual spring floods: As a result of the climate crisis, less and less snow is falling in the March catchment area, which means that spring snowmelt does not occur. Spring floods are becoming increasingly rare, the entire floodplain ecosystem is changing and is gradually becoming less attractive as a stork habitat.
The stork colony is doing well in the protected WWF floodplain reserve and in the town of Marchegg because the animals have very favorable living conditions there: “The animals find plenty of food in the floodplain meadows and ponds – also due to the grazing by our semi-wild Konik horses. They keep the vegetation varied and create good conditions for large insects such as grasshoppers or beetles. This makes it easier for the storks to find food and leads to relatively high breeding success,” says Jurrien Westerhof from the WWF. In order to support the stork population in the entire March-Thaya region, effective measures are needed to renaturate the river landscape. “The floodplains need more water again so that they can be preserved as a stork habitat outside of Marchegg,” appeals Jurrien Westerhof.
The backgrounds
In Austria, the largest breeding populations of white storks are in Burgenland and in the east of Lower Austria, specifically along the Danube, March and Thaya. “While in Rust, for example, the storks’ nests on house roofs are part of the townscape, the storks in Marchegg mostly breed in old trees. “That makes this colony unique in Europe,” says Jurrien Westerhof from WWF. In addition, many storks breed on the roof of Marchegg Castle and other buildings in the immediate vicinity of the floodplain reserve.
Just a few days ago, five new nesting aids were built in several old trees: These serve as a base for the construction of a nest and are happily accepted by the returning storks. The nests are inhabited, maintained and expanded by the animals for decades. There are currently up to 50 stork nests available for use in the floodplains of the WWF protected area and in Marchegg. At the end of August, the Marchegg storks usually migrate back to Africa via the eastern Mediterranean to overwinter.
photos of the first white stork in Marchegg 2024 can be found here.
Questions & Contact:
Mathias Kautzky, press spokesman for WWF Austria, 0676 83488 287, mathias.kautzky@wwf.at
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