{"id":47496,"date":"2025-05-29T09:22:06","date_gmt":"2025-05-29T06:22:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milvus.ro\/the-challenges-stork-chicks-face\/"},"modified":"2025-06-02T10:52:27","modified_gmt":"2025-06-02T07:52:27","slug":"the-challenges-stork-chicks-face","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milvus.ro\/en\/the-challenges-stork-chicks-face\/","title":{"rendered":"The challenges stork chicks face"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In one of the stork nests we monitor in Dumbr\u0103vioara (Mure\u0219 County), the chicks have perished, and we have received reports that similar cases have occurred in other nests as well.<\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"> Why stork chicks may die<\/h2><ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Weather extremes are beyond our control<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\r\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cold, wet springs are among the most lethal factors for stork chicks, especially in their first 10\u201320 days. Hypothermia and weakened immunity make survival difficult, even with attentive parents.<\/span><\/li>\n\n<li><strong>Not all chicks are meant to survive<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\r\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the wild, storks often lay more eggs than they can raise, and some chicks naturally perish when food is scarce. This is an evolutionary strategy \u2014 ensuring that at least some young survive in good years.<\/span><\/li>\n\n<li><strong>Parental behavior is adapted for survival<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\r\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What might seem cruel \u2014 like removing or abandoning a chick \u2014 is sometimes the adult birds&#8217; instinctive response to conserve energy and resources for the strongest offspring.<\/span><\/li><\/ul><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What do we know from the researches done<\/h2><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rainy conditions not only cause hypothermia but also increase the risk of fungal infections. A German <\/span><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/20408405\/\">study<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> found that 44.6% of examined dead chicks under 23 days old had<strong> fungal pneumonia<\/strong>, primarily caused by <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Aspergillus fumigatus<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <strong>Wet nest environments likely promote the growth of such pathogens.<\/strong><\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another <\/span><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tandfonline.com\/doi\/full\/10.1080\/00063657.2011.554531?utm_source=chatgpt.com#d1e290\">research<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> done in Poland concluded that <strong>the effects of air temperature and precipitation<\/strong> indirectly <strong>modify potential food resources<\/strong> available to storks, such as insects, amphibians, small mammals, etc.. Reduced food availability causes starvation of chicks or hampers their growth, and chilling may make them <strong>more susceptible to mortality<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why is it not good to intervene<\/h2><ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Severe weather conditions (such as rain, cold, strong winds, drought, etc.) induced mortality <strong>is part of natural selection<\/strong>. Harsh weather disproportionately affects weaker or less fit chicks, which helps ensure that only the strongest individuals survive.<\/span><\/li>\n\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Our core <strong>conservation principle is not to intervene in natural processes<\/strong> \u2014 no matter how painful they may be. The white stork is not a species threatened with extinction, and although the loss of chicks is heartbreaking, it does not threaten the survival of the species.<\/span><\/li><\/ul>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In one of the stork nests we monitor in Dumbr\u0103vioara (Mure\u0219 County), the chicks have perished, and we have received reports that similar cases have occurred in other nests as well. Why stork chicks may dieWhat do we know from the researches doneRainy conditions not only cause hypothermia but also increase the risk of fungal 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