'Long time' before Sussex White Storks 'properly established'
It will be a "long time" until White Storks are "properly established" in Sussex, the White Stork Project has said.
The project, based at Knepp Castle Estate in West Sussex, has been releasing birds annually during the last few years. In 2020, two pairs nested for the first time, one of them raising young.
A record year of breeding was achieved in 2022 and, last year, no fewer than 26 chicks fledged from 11 nests.
Captive-bred White Storks ahead of being released at Knepp in August 2022 (White Stork Project).
Self-sustaining storks
This year, 2024, is set to be another record-breaking season for the programme, with an estimated 40 chicks set to fledge.
However, despite this – and the White Stork Project's goal of 50 breeding pairs across south-east England by 2030 – it is expected to be a while before the birds are established and deemed self-sustaining.
Laura Vaughan-Hirsch, White Stork Project Officer, told the BBC: "The truth is, it's going to take a long time to get this colony properly established. They're a wild colony, with a small number of birds who can't fly that are rehabilitated from the wild and kept in a predator-proof pen."
High mortality
Vaughan-Hirsch also said that there was a high mortality of birds – and that, with some of the storks now migrating to North Africa and back, a large population is needed before it can become self-sustaining
"Between our partner site in East Sussex we've got about 80 adult birds," commented Vaughan-Hirsch. "It sounds like a lot of birds but they are migratory and sadly you lose a lot along the way, you have a very high mortality."
Origins unknown
White Storks originating from Knepp have been seen far and wide across Britain, as well as further afield, in Europe and North Africa. Efforts are made to ring each chick born as part of the project but with more birds each year it's an increasingly difficult task – last year, two youngsters were not ringed. Last year, a Surrey estate formally left the project, with some of the birds, a few of which were unringed, having escaped.
The storks have proved controversial among birders, with some feeling that there is a lack of historical breeding evidence of the species in Britain to merit an introduction programme. Furthermore, the possibility of unringed White Storks from the project at large in Britain has blurred the picture of what is or isn't a truly wild bird, making it a challenge for birders to be sure whether an unringed stork is tickable or not.
