Storks have been part of Alsace for centuries, and they are thought to be symbols of happiness and faithfulness and bring fertility and good luck—after all, who else delivers all those babies? They appear in various legends and folk tales from the region.But in the 1970s the stork population in Alsace was threatened, with only a small number of nests reported.Traditionally the storks would migrate from Africa, where they spent the winter, and come to Alsace in the summer. A variety of factors, from weather to power lines to hunting and eating them, led to their decline.