Drought weakens Rust storks as most leave for winter

About two-thirds of the stork population in the town of Rust has already begun flying to its winter quarters after a summer affected by drought, ORF reported.

Twenty-six pairs arrived in Rust in March and produced 87 young storks. But the birds struggled to find water and food during the dry summer.

“The stork has almost no chance of reaching the water, and because of the drought we also had few insects,” said Rudi Karassowitsch of the Rust Stork Association.

For the first time in the association’s history, it had to provide additional food. This is not a sustainable solution, however, as one stork needs around one kilogram of food. With more than 100 storks in Rust this year, the association cannot afford to continue feeding them.

The storks leaving Rust are weaker than usual and less developed, Karassowitsch said. An adult stork normally weighs between three and four kilograms and can live for up to 30 years.