Webbekom (BrWebbekomussels Morning Newspaper) – A photographer in Diest’s Webbekoms Broek captured a striking moment as a stork mistakenly fed its chick a food can—raising alarm over local littering.
According to stork expert and wildlife guide Luc Cieters, the image demonstrates how trash in the environment ends up in animal nests:
“It’s shocking; we have to tackle pollution.”
Eric Peeters, a wildlife guide, loves to explore the Webbekoms Broek nature in Belgium reserve and take pictures of the various species that call it home. He intends to photograph a stork family feeding on an evening stroll, but by chance he witnesses something amazing: one of the parents regurgitating a piece of garbage for its young.
“Capturing a feeding moment is special in itself, but the fact that it involves just a can, on top of that, shocks us,”
says stork expert Luc Cieters in the Webbekoms Broek.
Cieters explains how, in his opinion, the can ended up with the storks.
“It’s the time of year when storks start gathering in groups. They follow farmers’ tractors mowing hay with mowers, because the storks can smell from afar that a meadow is being cleared somewhere. The hay contains ready-made prey, such as mice, moles, and frogs.”
“But there’s currently a lot of litter in the Webbekoms Broek, because the swamps were used as retention basins, and there’s a lot of waste in the water. This waste then ends up on the banks and in the meadows. When farmers’ mowers hit a tin can, it might jump up behind the mower bar. Then the storks probably think it’s prey.”
Cieters now want to warn people about the consequences of litter.
“That can doesn’t belong in the nature reserve. People threw it in the water, and now it’s a problem for the animals. Not only the storks are feeling the effects, but also the cows and horses, because the litter can break off during mowing and end up in small flakes in their hay.”
According to Cieters, the young stork is doing well.
“We currently have three young storks in the area. The one in the photo was a latecomer. When we were ringing the storks, we didn’t think it would survive. But the parents found plenty of food and fed it well. Soon, all the young storks in the Webbekoms Broek will fledge.”
How does human litter and landfill availability influence the feeding habits and migration patterns of storks in Europe?
Many storks now rely heavily on food found in landfills, with some populations obtaining up to 70% of their diet from these sources. Instead of foraging exclusively for natural prey like small mammals and insects, storks actively seek out anthropogenic waste—such as food scraps—as a consistent and abundant food source near landfill sites.
Traditionally, white storks migrated long distances from Europe to sub-Saharan Africa to overwinter. However, due to the plentiful and year-round food available at European landfills—especially in countries like Spain and Portugal—many storks have shortened their migration routes or stopped migrating altogether, choosing to remain resident or only make small movements within Europe for the winter.
