White Stork

Ciconia ciconia Order: Ciconiiformes Family: Ciconiidae (Storks)
Ciconia ciconia Order: Ciconiiformes Family: Ciconiidae (Storks)

I was thrilled to get to see and photograph these iconic and beloved birds in Austria and Hungary in 2014. They made it into the Guinness Book of World Records for a surprising reason:

White Stork: Most clothing found in a bird’s nest. The strangest nest material for a bird was discovered in 1909, when workmen removed the 600-kg nest of a white stork Ciconia ciconia from the tower of a cathedral in Colmar, France, in order to prevent the tower from toppling over due to the nest’s very considerable weight. When the workmen examined the nest, they found that incorporated into its walls were 17 ladies’ black stockings, five fur caps, three shoes, a white silk blouse’s sleeve, a large piece of leather, and four buttons from the uniform of a railway porter!

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