Black storks face off at Kruger National Park
Animal lovers on a drive through the Kruger National Park learned how territorial birds can be when they saw a fierce fight between two black storks.
Claudia Apfelthaler is an avid bird watcher and was keen to spot some special species on her trip to the Kruger National Park.
Fortunately, the Biyamiti bush rose to the occasion. While watching a hippo nearby, Claudia spotted two black storks landing on a patch of grass near the river.
Claudia explained the quietly fierce confrontation to LatestSightings: "When I saw a black stork, I immediately zoned in on him; I was taken aback when another one landed next to him and the two started fighting. I’m not sure what the fight was about, but it must have been something intense because the birds were using their beaks to pin each other down".
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The birds seemed determined to get down each other's throats and were even flapping their wings as they fought. The confrontation only lasted a short while and the two birds soon settled down and went their separate ways.
Claudia believes the fight - which taught her that birds are not always peaceful creatures - could have been about marking territory.