Storks belong to both the countryside and the village life of Burgenland. There is a stork nest in the centre of Weiden am See which is frequented annually by a pair of these birds.
The white stork is about 80-100cm tall. Their wingspan reaches from 200 to 220 cm. The feathers are pure white except for the flight feathers. Beak and legs are red. White storks weigh from 2.5 to 4.5 kg. The beak is about 20 cm long. “Meister Adebar”, another common name for the stork, can live as long as 30 years. A stork family needs approximately 20 000 m² of marshland to survive (4-6 kg of food per day).
The white stork makes its nest on rocky ledges, trees, buildings and electricity masts. It is found in open and semi-open landscapes. It breeds in Europe from Spain to Russia, in north Africa and the Middle East (Turkey to the Caucasus). Generally, white storks will nest year after year in the same aerie. Stork nests can be over 2 m high, 2.2 m wide and weigh over 1000 kg. The white stork breeds once a year, the parents takes turns to sit on the eggs and raise the young. The brood consists of 3 to 5 eggs, which are twice as big as chicken eggs and are white with a fine grain. Young storks hatch after 32-34 days of incubation. They weigh only 65-80 grams at hatching. They can weigh 2 kg by 30 days post-hatching. A young stork learns to fly at the age of two months.
The white stork prefers swampland, marshes, shallow water and open landscapes with little vegetation. At the beginning of the breeding season, only one pair will settle in a local area, due to competition for nesting sites and food (around 1000 m).
White storks are not specialised to eat only one type of food. They eat small animals such as insects, larvae, crabs, earthworms, snails, mice, frogs, small snakes, chicks, lizards and fish as well as occasional carrion. In early spring the food supply is usually limited to earthworms, in winter hundreds of locusts are devoured. The white stork uses the ploughing of fields and the burning of straw or grass to its advantage to catch small animals. Examination of pellets ( regurgitated undigested food remnants) have not revealed any hunting habits that may be in competition with man. Long term observations have shown the high dependance of storks on naturally-managed agricultural areas.