The white stork is Alsace's emblematic bird, but by the 1970s it had nearly disappeared from France entirely due to habitat loss and hunting on its African migration route. The Écomusée d'Alsace is one of the sites that helped reverse this decline, maintaining a large resident colony as part of the broader reintroduction effort.
Visit in spring or early summer to see chicks in the oversized nests perched on poles and rooftops around the site. The birds are now a common sight across Alsace again — a genuine conservation success story.