A stork that has not migrated for four years has become the mascot of a Turkish village, where it lives on the chimney of a local house.
The loner stork made its nest in a chimney in the village of Akalin in the district of Yuksekova in the south-eastern Turkish province of Hakkari four years ago, and it has not migrated from its cosy home in all that time.
After spending every winter in the Turkish village, locals have decided to make the stork their mascot, and visitors to the area make sure they never leave without seeing it.
The bird lives in the chimney of a local resident named Bahadin Akis, even when the weather is freezing cold and snow blankets the area.
According to the news site Haberler, villagers feed the stork with fresh fish.
Akis told local media that he often feeds the stork by hand, adding: “The stork came to our village while migrating four years ago. The best part is it made its nest in my home chimney. Now it is part of the village.
“We feed it fish, and I often feed it by hand. When it leaves the chimney, I say to others ‘leave the fish in its nest’. We are used to it.
“People who visit the village never leave without seeing it.
“It is our goal to show mercy and love to all living things, so we respond to the bird with compassion.”
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Story By: Lee Bullen, Sub-Editor: William McGee,  Agency: Newsflash
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