Portugal Colonial - Back in stork: returning birds bring joy to Croatian village

But for the locals, it's a good omen.

For decades, villagers have welcomed dozens of white storks on the rooftops of their homes, where the birds nest in spring on their annual return from Africa.

"Storks were here long before me," pensioner Marijan Belosevic told AFP.

Their arrival, which has earned the village the moniker "Stork Village", has long been seen as a positive sign, signalling the changing of the seasons and serving as a symbol of fertility and prosperity.

"I don't see how I could ever remove their nest or chase them away... I have a lot of respect for nature," Belosevic said, eyeing a nest atop his home -- hopeful that it might soon hold newborn chicks.

- 'Fascinating' -

Cigoc, some 90 kilometres (55 miles) southeast of Zagreb, lies in the Lonjsko Polje nature park, the country's largest protected wetland area.

Its rich ecosystem makes it a valuable habitat for as many as 250 bird species -- more than two-thirds of Croatia's bird population, including the white and black storks.

In 1994, when the Germany-based EuroNatur foundation designated it Europe's first stork village, it recorded more than 300 storks, more than double its human residents.

As the number of the village's human inhabitants declines due to an ageing population and a shift to cities, stork numbers have fallen as well.

With insects and small mammals more difficult for them to find and eat on the now-abandoned farmland, fewer winged visitors are drawn to the area.

But they still outnumber the locals, perched on the roofs of most homes.

"In the area, white storks nest on house and barn roofs, unlike most of Europe, where they typically nest in trees or cliffs," Davor Anzil from the village's education centre said.

The reality of hosting such a large group of birds can often be messy, with families receiving help to clean up their homes from their feathered houseguests.

But with people living so close to the animals, Anzil said the locals were also given a rare up-close glimpse of the birds' day-to-days -- and even dramas.

He still vividly remembers a bitter four-day feud between rival females caught up in an avian love triangle, all unfolding on the roof of a home.

"There are so many fascinating stories here that even I, who have been working here for 28 years, am left stunned."

- 950-kilogram nest -

Storks return each year to Cigoc between March and April, building large nests from branches, mud and sometimes even villagers' clothes.

The largest recorded nest weighed around 950 kilograms (2,095 pounds).

Nearby wetlands provide abundant food for the birds, resulting in unusually high breeding success.

Storks in Cigoc average three to four chicks per nest, compared with one to two elsewhere in Europe.

Pairs sometimes even successfully raise five or six young in the village.

"They are amazing," said Danish tourist Rene Andreasen, who stopped to admire the birds as he cycled through the idyllic village.

"On the first visit with my girlfriend and son, we stopped at every stork on a roof. After a while, we had to keep going, or we'd never get anywhere."

E.Raimundo--PC