The long legged lords of the roof
If you walk around Strasbourg for more than five minutes you will see a stork. They are absolutely everywhere. You will find them on chimneys and on top of churches and on every souvenir magnet in the gift shops. These birds are the official symbol of Alsace. They have been hanging around this part of France for centuries. People here are obsessed with them. It is almost like the birds own the place and the humans are just paying rent.
A history of baby carrying myths
The stork became a symbol of the region a very long time ago. Legend says they bring good luck and fertility to any house where they build a nest. This is probably where the story about storks delivering babies comes from. It was a very convenient way for parents to avoid explaining biology to their children. In the past people would even put cartwheels on their roofs to encourage the birds to settle down. If a stork chose your house you were basically a local celebrity.
Coming back from the brink
It has not always been a party for the storks. By the 1970s they had almost completely disappeared from Alsace. There were only a few pairs left in the whole region. This was mostly due to changes in farming and dangerous power lines. The locals panicked because an Alsace without storks is like a pub with no beer. A massive conservation project started to bring them back. It worked so well that now you can hardly move without tripping over one.
Why they love the Alsatian lifestyle
The biology of the white stork makes Alsace the perfect home for them. They love wetlands and damp meadows where they can find plenty of snacks. Their diet consists of frogs and insects and the occasional unlucky mice. The Rhine valley provides a giant buffet for them. They are also very efficient when it comes to flying. They use warm air currents to glide instead of flapping their wings constantly. The flat plains of Alsace provide plenty of these currents to keep them moving.
Massive nests and messy habits
A stork nest is not a small thing. It is a giant pile of sticks that can weigh hundreds of kilograms. They keep adding to the same nest every year until it becomes a massive penthouse suite. While they look very majestic from a distance they are actually quite messy neighbours. They make a lot of noise by clattering their beaks together. It sounds like a group of people having a very fast wooden sword fight. They also leave a lot of white droppings all over the historic architecture which the city cleaners probably do not appreciate.
Living the tourist dream
Today the storks are more popular than ever. In places like the Orangerie park in Strasbourg you can see dozens of them living together. They seem used to humans taking photos of them. They just stand there on one leg looking very bored while tourists point and scream. It is a strange relationship but it works. The storks get a safe place to live and Alsace gets to keep its famous feathered icon.
