In the Netherlands, Germany and eastern Europe, storks nesting on the roof of a household were believed to bring good luck — and the possibility of new birth — to the family below, Warren Chadd wrote in her book. Although Europe was the epicenter of the myth, it took shape in the Americas too, she told Live Science.

Do storks really deliver babies?

There is therefore absolutely no clear scientific evidence that storks do deliver babies. As a story it was particularly useful for prudish Victorian parents as a way of explaining the birds and the bees to their children, who turned it into the widespread phenomenon it is today.

Do storks throw babies out of the nest?

Stork chicks are known to fall out of nests, but this is not very common across stork species. A noisy stork colony, contrary to first impressions, seems to be more the epitome of fairness (adults) and bonhomie (chicks), rather than fighting that all of the hullabaloo would suggest.