Latest news with #whiteStorks
The Independent
a day ago
- Science
- The Independent
Return of white storks to the UK described as 'emblem' for nature recovery
White storks, once common in Britain, disappeared centuries ago due to hunting and habitat loss, but conservationists are working to reintroduce them. A reintroduction project in southern England, started in 2016, uses rescued storks to establish breeding colonies and attract wild birds. The Knepp Estate in West Sussex, which has been "rewilded" since 2000, provides a habitat where storks thrive due to healthy soils, diverse insect life, and suitable nesting trees. The first chicks were born in 2020, and in 2024, at least six birds born at Knepp returned from migration to nest in the colony, indicating a healthy ecosystem. The success at Knepp demonstrates that habitat restoration can lead to the return of species, with white storks serving as an "emblem for nature recovery" and positively impacting other wildlife.
BBC News
23-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Rare storks first to be born in West Midlands in 600 years
Two rare baby white storks are the first to be born in the West Midlands region in more than 600 were born in Staffordshire as part of a conservation project that aims to reintroduce the newborns need 24-hour care, according to experts at Celtic Rewilding, a conservation company based in the county that is looking after are fed with a white glove and red tweezers so the offspring think they are being fed by an adult stork rather than a human. "We've assembled this flock here to try to breed this lost species in Staffordshire again," said Harvey Tweats, one of those involved in the project."We've had two baby chicks hatch, under controlled conditions, and we're just really, really excited."The parents have become inseparable, those behind the scheme said. The birds were once a familiar sight across the UK but vanished due to habitat loss and is hoped this project will help reverse that, and it has been supported by locals."They're not shy of people, so one day you could have a pair of white storks nesting near your house, on your community building," said Derbyshire Wildlife Trust's Katie Last."And those storks are families - they'll come back each year, and you will have a great bond and connection with those storks."Tom Whitehurst from Celtic Rewilding added that people had been contacting them to say how amazed they were to discover the species once lived in the babies are expected to grow to full size in just two months, reaching about 3ft (1m) in height and having a wingspan of 6.5ft (2m). Follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
19-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
White storks hatch in Cornwall in rewilding plan
A farmer is nurturing a brood of white storks chicks as part of a charity's aim to reintroduce them in the Swiderski has welcomed eight stork chicks from the adults he keeps in a woodland near Wadebridge as part of work by the Cornwall Stork expert Chris Packham said the project was "exciting" as it would "hopefully recolonise Cornwall" with the first wild white stork chicks in the UK for hundreds of years hatched at the Knepp Estate in West Sussex in 2020. Wildlife expert Chris Packham said reintroducing storks was "something that's not easy to do".He said: "You can't just get some storks and let them go in the UK because they will only return to where they were hatched."This is what is so exciting about the storks in Wadebridge."Because those storks have hatched there, when they're released they'll have a yearn to return to Wadebridge or the surrounding area which will mean they will hopefully recolonise Cornwall."White storks have been seen flying across Cornwall as they migrate Packham said migration was tough as some storks could be hunted and some affected by natural catastrophes."This is a project which needs to run for a number of years to get those numbers up because there will be natural mortality."So the idea that all eight of these storks that migrate away when they're released will make it back is a little fanciful."Storks are slow to mature, he added, so breeding would take a while. A few of the chicks born near Wadebridge were fragile and needed specialist care from the nearby Screech Owl Sanctuary. Karen Hopkins, who is caring for them, said: "The hope is that these lovely birds will fly over the Cornish skies and we can be a small part of that process by giving them the food they need at this young age."
