What is the National Bird of Belarus?
The national bird of Belarus is white stork. The well-known long leg bird is the largest bird in the stork family is the white stork and it is characterized by a white plumage and black wings. The white stork is very fond of Belarusian people. Many folk songs are written associated with these birds.
Belarus national bird, the white stork is the holy bird to the Belarusian people. They believe that the storks settle only for good people. If the stork made a nest on the roof of the house, the inhabitants of this house will live happily ever after. So the Belarusian govt declared the white stork as the national animal of Belarus.
While you’ve got the answer to the question: “What is the national bird of Belarus?” definitely you’ve more questions about this holy bird of Belarus. Before answering those common questions, we’ll represent some basic facts of white stork.
Facts about Belarus national bird
- Common Name: white stork
- Scientific name: Ciconiaciconia
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Chordata
- Class: Aves
- Order: Ciconiiformes
- Family: Ciconiidae
- Genus: Ciconia
- Species: C. ciconia
- Found in: Europe, Iberian Peninsula, North Africa, central Europe, Poland, some parts of western Asia.
- Habitat: riverbanks, marshes, swamps, ditches, grasslands and meadows.
- Diet: amphibians, reptiles such as lizards, snakes and frogs, insects, fish, small birds and mammals
- Average Length: 100 to 120 cm
- Average Weight: 2 to 4.5kgs
- Average Lifespan: 35 years
- Average Speed: 35 km/h
There is a little story that is so much popular among the Belarusian people that, in the very past the stork used to be a human. One day God gave him a bag which was locked up and ordered to throw it into a pit. But unfortunately, the man was greedy and thought that there was gold hidden inside the bag.
When he untied the bag there was snake crowded inside and all snakes were crawled and hid. God then turned the man into a stork, and ordered to collect snakes across the land. Since storks roam the swamps and collect reptiles.
Belarus’s national bird, the white stork is the largest of the 2 stork species. The stork has a white plumage with black and shiny feathers. Their Both legs and the beak are red in color. The two sexes appear almost identical although males can be slightly larger.
The white stork is a large bird can reach up to one around 100 to 120 cm from the tip of its beak to its tail. It is a light bird weighing only around 2 to 4.5kgs. They like to be near water. They made their nest beside water area where food is available and go for food within 2 km distance. The Belarus govt. declared the white stork as the National bird symbol of Belarus.
References:
- “Facts about white stork” –animalcorner.co.uk
- “Details about White stork” -mynativebelarus.blogspot.com
- “Details about White stork” – wikipedia
- “Details about white stork” – birds-lifestyle.blogspot.com