2 storks settled in Turkey for 3 years after migrating

By Ulas Guven

HAKKARI, Turkey (AA) - Two storks have become mascots of a Turkish village in the country’s southeasternmost after halting migration three years ago.

Located on storks’ migration route, Hakkari’s Yuksekova district became a new home to the two that emigrated to Nehil Reed in the village of Koprucuk.

Village dwellers take good care of the storks by cleaning their nest when it snows and feeding them with homemade food or freshly caught fishes.

Hekim Karacan, a veterinary from Yuksekova Municipality, told Anadolu Agency that migration season for storks already started in October.

“Migration is a long travel. So we think that these storks do not migrate because they find sufficient food at Nehil Reed during winter season,” Karacan said.

“We are regularly coming here to check the storks’ health,” he said, adding that the villagers look after them very well.

Lokman Cankurtaran, a villager, said they are cleaning the mosque chimney when it snows as storks spend the winter there.

“We bring warm sticks and place them in the nest,” Cankurtaran said, adding they also light the mosque’s heater to let the nest get warm through the chimney.

“When they go hungry, we catch fish and leave it to their nest. As villagers, we love our storks,” he said.

* Writing by Sena Guler