How do you save a stork?

The cold wave has brought hundreds of calls and reports of white storks in danger. But NOT all of them need to be saved. The clearest sign that a stork needs help is when the bird approaches people. If a stork comes down from the nest, onto the street, it is clear that it needs food. If it no longer runs away from people, it needs help. **How can you help them?** 1. Offer food to the birds that have come down from the nest (fish, diced raw meat). Food gives them energy, they can withstand the cold better. 2. If it is frozen, it cannot move – then take the bird and shelter it in the stable, in an outbuilding of the household, etc. 3. Limit contact with the stork, it is a wild bird and its beak blow is very strong, it can hurt you. Leave the bird alone, let it calm down. 4. Give the bird water, continue feeding. 5. As soon as it recovers, release the bird. Do not release the bird in the evening, only in the morning or at lunchtime. 6. If the bird is hit, has a broken wing or is bleeding, contact a veterinarian. If you have seen storks in the field, far from people, those are storks that are resting. That is why they avoid people. They are birds that are waiting for the weather to improve to continue their migration to their nesting sites. The white stork is a large bird and needs warm air currents to continue their migration. Without these currents, they would have a huge energy consumption in migration, they would not be able to cover distances of over 200 kilometers daily. **For small birds found in the snow:** "To avoid picking up frozen birds from the snow, it is best to prevent this. Offer them food at a feeder in the garden or in the yard of the apartment building – it can even be the windowsill. Feed the birds with nuts, raw sunflower seeds, fruit. Not with BREAD! Bread is a processed food, it does not give them nutrients, in addition to energy, to withstand the cold", Ovidiu Bufnilă also said. **If you have found a frozen bird:** 1. Put the bird in a cardboard box, with paper towels under it, at room temperature. 2. Find out what species it is – ask a biologist. The Romanian Ornithological Society answers all messages on the Facebook page. 3. Depending on the species, you can buy the ideal food for it. 4. Put water next to it. 5. When the bird recovers, it MUST be released. But not in the evening, but in the morning or around noon. 6. If it was hit – call a veterinarian. Recommendations: Visul Luanei Foundation, Vets4Wild Romania, Peregrinus Association. For 3 years, the Romanian Ornithological Society has installed feeders in 14 cities in Romania, to help birds get through the winter. Since 2017, SOR has developed together with Enel the first application aimed at helping white storks in Romania – Uite Barza, an application with the help of which the white stork census is carried out.