The Latvian Fund for Nature (LDF) and the Dabasdati.lv portal launched the webcam on March 24, expecting the storks to arrive within two weeks; however it took only two days for the first stork of the couple to arrive.
The black stork couple were found by ornithologists in 2014. Black storks use the same nest for long periods of time so this year the camera has not changed place.
Black storks (Ciconia nigra) are smaller than white storks and are, as their name suggests, black, with the notable exception of the belly however. They eat mostly small fish, frogs and insects. The Latvian black storks winter in Ethiopia.
In the last 20 years the number of black storks in Latvia has halved. The die-out could be explained by Soviet-era DDT deposits.
LDF intends to provide livestreams from the nests of five rare birds this year. This is the fifth year they're providing streams of rare birds.
As of now several white-tailed eagles (Haliaeetus albicilla) have paid visits to the nest that produced Durberts, a celebrity eagle whose egg defied the odds by surviving a crow attack undefended. He first took wing last year.
Look at the mating rituals of the black storks as well as a dramatic scene where crows sneak up to destroy two of Dubert's would-be siblings HERE.
