Sounds Of Spring

All over the world, birds announce the spring with their own unique sounds. In the Eastern European country of Ukraine, the stork and the cuckoo have especially strange ways to welcome spring.

- Gabriele Goldstone

Clackety-Clack: The Stork’s Song

In Ukraine, the sound of clack-clack-clacking is a sure sign that spring has arrived. The huge bird called the stork has returned with its noisy clatter.

Storks are mute and can’t sing like most other birds. They talk to each other by clacking their giant beaks. Storks also use their beaks to carry sticks when building their enormous nests, and to defend those nests against intruders.

When storks nest, the mother and father busily take turns keeping the eggs warm until they hatch. Male and female storks spend equal time warming the eggs. Later, the new parents bring food to the young ones. Storks like to eat reptiles, frogs, bugs, and snails, which they catch with their sharp beaks.