As the Sun goes down in Lithuania, two storks are resting on a dry branches of a dead tree.


This photo was made in Lithuania, small Baltic country. The White Stork (gandras) was declared the national bird of Lithuania in 1973. Lithuanians believe that storks bring harmony to the families on whose property they nest; they have also kept up the tradition of telling their children that storks bring babies. Stork Day is celebrated on March 25 with various archaic rituals: gifts for children, attributed to the storks, such as fruits, chocolates, pencils, and dyed eggs, are hung on tree branches and fences; snakes are caught, killed and buried under the doorstep; straw fires are lit. Notably, Lithuania is a beneficial and important habitat for these birds: it has the highest known nesting density in the world


Size: 2817px × 4243px
Location: Near Klaipeda, Lithuania.
Photo credit: © Luka Tambaca / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: 25th, animal, babies, baltic, beautiful, big, bird, black, blue, branch, ciconia, contrast, curve, dawn, day, dry, dusk, elegant, europe, family, father, feather, gandras, happiness, harmony, home, joy, leg, lithuania, march, morning, national, nature, nesting, observe, orange, parent, preserve, protect, red, refuge, reserve, silhouette, slim, small, son, stork, sunrise, sunset, thin, tree, view, watch, white, wildlife, wing, wood