Something odd is happening when it comes down to European storks. The birds are no longer flying to Africa for the winter as they usually do in the past, and this is due to leftovers from humans.

Yes, human leftovers are ensuring that over 14,000 storks remain in Spain and Portugal combined. They feed from several landfill sites throughout these countries, and since landfills are always overrun with food, the storks feel no need to rush off to Africa because gaining access to junk food is easier.

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To make things even more interesting, the birds are using this to their advantage. They can now find the best breeding sites, and breed much earlier than they normally do. The nests are relatively close to the landfills, so breeding storks no longer have to travel far away from their nests. This means they should be able to protect their young much better than before from predators.

"We found that the landfill sites enable year-round next use, which is an entirely new behaviour that has developed very recently. This strategy enables the resident birds to select the best nest sites and to start breeding earlier," lead researcher Aldina Franco, from the University of East Anglia's School of Environmental Sciences in Norwich, England, reported by the Christian Science Monitor.

We should also point out that thanks to climate change, the winter in Spain and Portugal is no longer a huge problem for storks, so that's another reason for the need to longer travel all the way to Africa. The warmer European weather makes it possible for storks to gain access to their regular food source.

As it stands right now, the storks reliance on junk food won't last because the European Union Landfill Directives request that all landfills with an open-air top must be closed by the year 2018. By that time, storks may have to pick up the habit of traveling to Africa again, but if climate change continues on the path it is on right now, then they might not have to.

Until then, the storks will be living the good life. Junk food everywhere, who needs to go around and hunt at a time like this when food is free.

In other news about animals, we understand some females choose to look unpealing to avoid sexual advances, according to The Daily Caller.