European white storks that forage in landfills gain short-term benefits but face serious long-term health risks, according to new research presented at the Society for Experimental Biology conference in Florence.
The study, conducted on white stork populations in Poland, found that birds feeding on discarded food waste have greater body mass and higher energy stores compared to those relying on natural prey.
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Anustup Bandyopadhyay, a PhD student at the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, explained that landfill foraging allows storks to spend less time searching for food and potentially channel that time into breeding.
“Our partners from Poland have also found that white storks use landfills mostly in the middle of the breeding season, when the food demands of nestlings are at its peak,” Bandyopadhyay said.
However, the convenience comes at a cost.
The research detected evidence of DNA damage in young chicks just one week old, linked to a landfill-based diet.
Migration Shifts and Population Impacts
The availability of landfill food subsidies is also altering migration patterns. Some white stork populations are becoming partially migratory or even entirely sedentary.
“The Iberian peninsula white storks have shifted from being wholly migratory to partially migratory, or even sedentary, largely due to favourable weather conditions and, importantly, the availability of landfill food subsidies,” Bandyopadhyay added.
Prof Aldina Franco, an ecologist at the University of East Anglia who was not involved in the research, described landfill food as “junk food” for birds.
