Burgenland leads the way

Pleasing breeding season for our white storks

In the last breeding season, a new Austrian record was set with 522 nesting pairs.

(Bild: stock.adobe.com/Amira - stock.adobe.com)

While the summer heatwave continues, the migration season for white storks begins in mid-August. According to an initial interim assessment, a pleasing number of young birds have fledged in the local stork nests this year and are now getting ready for their long journey south. 

They are particularly majestic to look at and a sure indicator that the cold season is over. The nature conservation association "BirdLife Austria" counts the Austrian white stork breeding pairs and their young birds every year with the help of numerous partner organizations, municipalities and many volunteers.

According to the data available so far from 240 eyries in Burgenland and Lower Austria (information on the remaining 300 or so eyries will be received in the second half of the year), the breeding success is just under 2.6 fledged young birds per occupied eyrie. "That's a pleasingly high figure!" says Eva Karner-Ranner, coordinator of the white stork census.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/stock.adobe.com)

"Of course, we have to wait for the results from the other federal states, which could push the average breeding success down, but at least for Eastern Austria it looks like an almost sensational breeding success this year!"

Departure of the storks
Between mid-August and early September, the white storks leave their breeding grounds and set off on the long journey to their wintering grounds. The eastward migrating storks, which include most of the Austrian storks, are classic long-distance migrants that spend the winter in East and South Africa. Among the western migrants, which include the Vorarlberg storks, there are now numerous birds that only migrate as far as south-western Europe or stay in Central Europe. "As a result, their migration is delayed in some cases or does not occur at all," says the expert, "so with luck you can see storks at Lake Constance even in the height of winter."

Current gatherings for resting
During the migration period in August, there are clusters of storks, for example in the Innviertel region of Upper Austria, in the foothills of the Alps in Lower Austria and in the upper Mur Valley in Styria. These are either local storks that gather on favorable feeding areas, such as large meadows, and strengthen themselves before migration, or storks migrating from neighboring countries.

Final results 2023
In the past breeding season, a new Austrian record was set with 522 nesting pairs. Most storks breed in Burgenland (148 pairs). The strong increase in the population in recent years is mainly due to the Vorarlberg Rhine Valley, but the breeding population of white storks is also on the rise again in Burgenland and Styria.