Vast flocks of storks passed through Türkiye and the Bosporus this week as part of their annual autumn migration from European breeding grounds toward Africa and the Middle East.
As summer draws to a close, the large migratory birds began heading south, making Türkiye a crucial passage along the African-Eurasian flyway that links breeding and wintering grounds across three continents.
The Bosporus Strait, the narrow waterway dividing the European and Asian sides of İstanbul, is particularly important because of the way storks travel.
Unlike many smaller migratory birds, storks rely heavily on rising columns of warm air – known as thermals – to gain altitude. They then glide for long distances, conserving energy during journeys that can stretch thousands of kilometres.
Because thermals usually form over land, storks generally avoid long flights over open water. This tends to funnel large numbers of them toward narrow crossings like the Bosporus and the Strait of Gibraltar.
After crossing the Bosporus from Europe into Asian Anatolia, the birds continue south through Türkiye and the Middle East toward their traditional wintering areas in Africa.
Along the route, wetlands and agricultural areas across Türkiye provide important feeding and resting grounds. Storks eat insects, amphibians, reptiles, small mammals, and other available food as they replenish their energy for the long journey.
In spring, the migration is repeated in reverse, with the birds returning north to breeding grounds across Europe and surrounding regions.
White storks typically migrate in flocks numbering hundreds or even thousands, creating dramatic scenes as vast numbers of birds circle upward on thermal currents before gliding toward their next stopping point.
The journey, however, carries risks.
Habitat loss, illegal poaching, and collisions with electrical infrastructure are among the human-caused threats facing storks – and other migratory bird, on their transcontinental flights.
Earlier this month, Turkish authorities took special precautions along an electrified railway near Istanbul’s Küçükçekmece Lake after some storks were harmed by contact with electrical equipment.
For Istanbul residents, the annual migration offers a seasonal spectacle: large flocks soaring above one of the world’s busiest cities before crossing from one continent to another on their long journey south.
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