Despite being in good health and the rest of his family having already left, the bird decided to stay settled in the village of Przodkowo in northeast Poland and take advantage of the local hospitality.
But now the Ostoja rehabilitation Center, which until recently was taking care of the stork, has called on residents to stop feeding him.
Posting on facebook, the center said: “We kindly ask residents to ignore and especially not feed the white stork, which decided not to undertake the hardships of the migration, as a result of which it remained mainly in the vicinity of the center.
“The stork chooses places of larger concentrations of people for its visits. He prefers school grounds the most.
❗️Uwaga❗️
Zwracamy się z prośbą do mieszkańców powiatu kartuskiego o ignorowanie, niereagowanie, a zwłaszcza o...
Opublikowany przez Pomorski Ośrodek Rehabilitacji Dzikich Zwierząt "Ostoja" Wtorek, 8 października 2024
“It can also appear at restaurants, gas stations, playgrounds, church grounds, railway stations, mobilizing to feed or even begging for food.”
The center added: “Each feeding of the stork impairs its independence and its tendency to migrate south. In extreme situations, contact with it may pose a risk of injury to the person feeding it.”
Where’s the stork?
Ornithologists are able to track the bird’s location using a special transmitter known as a logger that was placed on it when it was still under the center’s care.
Most recently, the bird was located in the nearby town of Łapalice 14km away.
The center said: “Thanks to the locator, we can see that it is moving, which means that the bird is strong enough to fly away.”
