- Title: GERMANY: Blue stork takes up residence in Eastern German village of Biegen
- Date: 9th April 2010
- Summary: BIEGEN, GERMANY (APRIL 07, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF BIEGEN CITY LIMITS VARIOUS OF CHIMNEY WITH NEST AND BLUE STORK SHEEP WATCHING STORK IN NEST VARIOUS OF BLUE STORK
- Embargoed: 24th April 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Germany
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Nature / Environment
- Reuters ID: LVA3IGEXOM8KA3NBUVTO4LXTQMZS
- Story Text: The village of Biegen in the eastern German region of Brandenburg is usually a quiet little place. But that might change soon as the citizens of Biegen may have just discovered their very own tourist attraction: a stork with blue feathers has taken up residence on top of one of Biegen's tall chimneys, conservationists told Reuters on Wednesday (April 07).
The bird's plumage does indeed shine in colours ranging from light blue to a deep royal blue. Lutz Ittermann, a conservationist with the local nature conservation society Oder-Spree, believes the stork's unusual colour might have been an accident: "It is very likely for those birds that they are looking for food in garbage dumps and the stork could have stained himself with paint in such a situation."
Biegen residents however worry that someone might have wilfully tried to harm the bird: "We reckon it has been fired at with paint" said Biegen citizens Karl-Heinz Kochan and Joachim Schulze.
The blue bird arrived last Saturday (April 3) and has since been on the lookout for company as mating season is about to start. Ittermann doesn't believe that the male stork's unusual looks will prevent him from finding a female: "At the end of the day, the choice of mate is not going to be determined by the colour. It might be that the recognition factor suffers a bit but the storks will recognise each other as conspecifics no matter what the colour. The question now is whether the unusual will be attractive or repellent."
Residents Kochan and Schulze also don't see a reason for the big bird not to find a mate. After all, they say, it is the same with humans: "The colour doesn't matter, the male does...It is like with men: a ginger man can get a blonde woman."
According to local media, a female stork has already started showing a certain interest in the blue fellow. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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