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White Stork Unfortunately, the White Stork is yet another bird that we rarely see in our country. The white stork was always present in Macedonia, however nowadays its number has significantly decreased. There were about 2490 nests registered of which 1132 were active (with little birds) in 1959, and today their number has an enormous decrease of over 66%. This bird is very devoted to human beings and it lives close to people. Unlike the other birds, the white stork does not fear human beings and that makes our responsibility even greater. It mates towards the end of March when it comes back from Africa. The stork usually goes back to its old nest. Up to 1958 the white stock had over 3500 little storks in Macedonia, whereas today that number is 3 to 4 times less.
Black Stork Another bird found in Macedonia, apart from the white stork, is the Black Stork. It usually lives in mountainous areas, faraway from inhabited places, near rivers rich with fish. They can be seen in Pelagonia, near River Crna, in Demir Kapia, near the River Vardar, in Gevgelia, in the canyon of Lake Tikves, in the gorge Taor, in the gorge of the River Babuna etc. The black stork is smaller than the white stork. The decline in number of the storks is due to many reasons such as: disappearance of the swamps, demolition of houses in villages and settlements where they used to build their nests, scarcity of food sources and polluted springs. In order to protect them we must undertaken urgent measures such as: forbid demolition of old houses or cutting trees with nests, i.e. to move their nests onto the nearest solid surface before demolishing actions are taken.
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Cuckoo Cuckoos are known for their odd way of multuplying. They lay eggs in other birds nests. Cuckoos also have a very distinctive shriek. In Springtime, the cuckoo's song is a vestige that warmer days are coming. It feeds on caterpillars, thus it is one of the greatest protectors of forests.
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The Legend of the Swans of Lake Ohrid
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Copyright© The environment of the
Republic of Macedonia |
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The night creatures, the owls, have quite a distinctive appearance and they
make an unusual sound. These creatures of the night have a highly developed sense of sight
and sound. They usually prey on small rodants (mice etc.) that, on the other hand can be
very dangerous to agricultural activities as well as for the homes of people if they grow
into large numbers. Thus, the owls are under legal protection.
In 1971/73 2 pairs
of white swans, 2 pairs of black swans, 2 pairs of geese, 2 pairs of Californian geese and
10 pairs of wild ducks were brought to Lake Ohrid. The birds bring beauty to Lake Ohrid
springs in St. Naum. Some of them did not remain here, like the black swans, while the
geese did not breed new geese and they disappeared slowly. On the hand, the wild ducks and
the white swans increased in number and even today they make Lake Ohrid a beautiful sight.
The swans are big birds that have short legs, compared to their body. Between the front
three fingers they have a swimming membrane. Swans usually eat the plants on the bottom of
the shallow waters, so they dive their heads and necks into the water, while their tail is
positioned upright.
