Sci Pry

A Busted Myth: Conjugal Fidelity or Nest-Site Fidelity?

Whose child does the stork bring you?

By Stefan Anitei, Science Editor

8th of August 2007, 18:06 GMT

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We tend to humanize animals, to believe they might have human feelings. We even dare to use words like "love" and "monogamous relationship" when we analyze many species.

But appearances can be very deceiving. A classical example is the white stork. In the European mythology, the 'stork' is responsible for

bringing babies to new parents. This legend probably came out because white storks have the habit of nesting on buildings in urban areas, so they are often seen around human settlements and the same stable pair seems to grow offspring annually.

In Eastern Europe, from Lithuania to Romania, it is believed that storks bring harmony to a family on whose property they nest and its destruction is considered a taboo. Hmm, harmony? Let's see.

Each stork chases away an individual of the same sex that would have the intention of invading its territory. The male rejects all the other males. Does the female proceed in the same way?

At first glance, this looks like a monogamous relationship. But what actually brings them together is the nest. Storks are "married" with their nests, not with their partner.

Biologists have observed that during spring, the first to return after migration are the males. Their first concern is to occupy the nest they left the previous year. After a few days the females arrive and look for the old nest. Thus, the only thing that unites them is the fidelity to the old nest.

But sometimes, another female appears and everything looks good. But the ring shows it is not the female from the previous year. Two days later the "legitimate" wife arrives. It only takes them a few seconds to start a fierce fight, but the male remains indifferent to it. The fight lasts for several minutes.

The newly arrived female wins and love is in the air, as if nothing happened. It's hard to call this conjugal fidelity...

TAGS:

stork | nest | pair

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