This is Scientific American 60 Second Science.

I'm Cynthia Graber.

Got a minute?

Humans aren't the only creatures who love junk food.

Many animals are known to enjoy sifting through our garbage to find edible treats.

And now we learn that some storks have stopped migrating from Europe to sub-Saharan Africa in the winter,

they'd rather feed at landfills.

They use landfill sites heavily during the winter and they travel

very long distance to get to these sites. Aldina Franco of the University of East Anglia

one of the scientists who studied the storks use of

landfills in Portugal. GPS tracking devices on 17 birds showed that the

landfill life might mean up to 100 kilometer round trips to feed, healthy

distances, but far shorter than their historic migration routes.

And also they use the nest throughout the year and look after the nest.

So these resident birds are, they are in the perfect condition.

They are always ready to start breathing.

So as soon as spring arrives, they are ready to go.

The nest is in good condition.

And they start breeding earlier.

The number of storks overwintering in Portugal has shot up from fewer than 2,000 in 1995 to 14,000 in 2014.

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

The studies in the journal Movement ecology.

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