出国留学首选一诺留学

　　Humans aren't the only creatures who love junkfood—many animals are known to enjoy siftingthrough our garbage to find edible treats.

　　And now we learn that some storks have stoppedmigrating from Europe to sub-Saharan Africa in thewinter—they'd rather feed at landfills.

　　“They use landfill sites heavily during the winter andthey travel very long distance to get to the sites.”

　　Aldina Franco of the University of East Anglia, one of the scientists who studied the storks' useof landfills in Portugal.

　　GPS tracking devices on 17 birds showed that the landfill life might mean up to 100-kilometerround-trips to feed—healthy distances, but far shorter than their historic migration routes.

　　“And also they use the nests throughout the year and look after the nests.

　　So these resident birds are in perfect condition, they are always ready to start breeding.

　　So as soon as spring arrives they're ready to go, the nest is in good condition, and they startbreeding earlier.”

　　The number of storks overwintering in Portugal has shot up from fewer than 2,000 in 1995 to14,000 in 2014.

　　The increase appears to reflect both changes in behavior and a booming stork population ingeneral.

　　The study is in the journal Movement Ecology.

　　The Portuguese landfills are slated to close in 2018, with the trash diverted to coveredrecycling and composting facilities.

　　How will the storks respond?

　　Franco thinks they'll get back to basics.

　　“So the storks are social animals.

　　They live in colonies.

　　They migrate in groups.

　　So potentially as long as there are a few birds that still know the route, they can teach theones that are currently residents how to migrate.”