Storks feeding on rubbish dumps instead of migrating are more likely to survive the winter, research shows.
The bird is among a growing number of migratory species that have changed their behaviour due to human influences, says an international team.
Until recently, all white storks in Europe migrated south for the winter, but now more are flying shorter distances to snack on food on dumps.
The white stork breeds from Europe to north-west Africa and western Asia.
White storks in Europe have traditionally flown south to spend the winter in Africa but in recent decades an increasing number have stayed closer to home, drawn to the food discarded at landfill sites.
A team lead by Dr Andrea Flack of the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Germany used GPS devices to study the migratory habits of 70 young storks from eight different countries during their first migration.
The research, published in Science Advances, tracked birds hatched in Armenia, Greece, Poland, Russia, Spain, Germany, Tunisia and Uzbekistan.
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