Bocian
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's definitely a bird – a white stork, to be exact.
Given its large size, with wings which can span over two metres, comparing a bocian to a plane might not be too far-fetched. As many as 90,000 – around a quarter of the world's population of the carnivorous bird – make Poland their home for part of the year. They wisely migrate south to avoid the freezing Polish winters, spending the winter months in Africa, but always return to the same gniazdo (‘nest’) to rear their young.
These nests are a noticeable feature of the Polish countryside. They are even said to bring good luck to people living nearby, so Poles will try entice bociany to build their homes on their roof or nearby telephone poles by attaching a metal framework to serve as a base for a nest. The storks themselves are quite lucky to be in Poland, where the bocian is a legally-protected species.
Apart from luck, everyone knows bociany also deliver newborn babies to expectant mothers. How did this association arise? In Poland, it may be linked to how the reappearance of bociany marks the coming of spring in March. Canny people noticed this is 9 months after Noc Kupały (an originally Pagan summer festival, the celebrations for which tended to involve more promiscuity than was normally allowed), leading to theories that the origins of the bocian association with fertility is connected to the results of the evening's festivities.
As for the arts, storks even come up in Adam Mickiewicz's national epic Pan Tadeusz:
Text
For already the stork had flown back to its native pine
And had spread its white wings, the early standard of spring
Author
Trans. George Rapall Noyes
Tytuł (nagłówek do zdjęcia)
Quarks, Elephants & Pierogi:
Poland in 100 Words
[{"nid":"5688","uuid":"6aa9e079-0240-4dcb-9929-0d1cf55e03a5","type":"article","langcode":"en","field_event_date":"","title":"Challenges for Polish Prose in the Nineties","field_introduction":"Content: Depict the world, oneself and the form | The Mimetic Challenge: seeking the truth, destroying and creating myths | Seeking the Truth about the World | Destruction of the Heroic Emigrant Myth | Destruction of the Polish Patriot Myth | Destruction of the Flawless Democracy Myth | Creation of Myths | Biographical challenge | Challenges of genre | Summary\r\n","field_summary":"Content: Depict the world, oneself and the form | The Mimetic Challenge: seeking the truth, destroying and creating myths | Seeking the Truth about the World | Destruction of the Heroic Emigrant Myth | Destruction of the Polish Patriot Myth | Destruction of the Flawless Democracy Myth | Creation of Myths | Biographical challenge | Challenges of genre | Summary","topics_data":"a:2:{i:0;a:3:{s:3:\u0022tid\u0022;s:5:\u002259609\u0022;s:4:\u0022name\u0022;s:26:\u0022#language \u0026amp; literature\u0022;s:4:\u0022path\u0022;a:2:{s:5:\u0022alias\u0022;s:27:\u0022\/topics\/language-literature\u0022;s:8:\u0022langcode\u0022;s:2:\u0022en\u0022;}}i:1;a:3:{s:3:\u0022tid\u0022;s:5:\u002259644\u0022;s:4:\u0022name\u0022;s:8:\u0022#culture\u0022;s:4:\u0022path\u0022;a:2:{s:5:\u0022alias\u0022;s:14:\u0022\/topic\/culture\u0022;s:8:\u0022langcode\u0022;s:2:\u0022en\u0022;}}}","field_cover_display":"default","image_title":"","image_alt":"","image_360_auto":"\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/360_auto\/public\/2018-04\/jozef_mroszczak_forum.jpg?itok=ZsoNNVXJ","image_260_auto":"\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/260_auto_cover\/public\/2018-04\/jozef_mroszczak_forum.jpg?itok=pLlgriOu","image_560_auto":"\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/560_auto\/public\/2018-04\/jozef_mroszczak_forum.jpg?itok=0n3ZgoL3","image_860_auto":"\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/860_auto\/public\/2018-04\/jozef_mroszczak_forum.jpg?itok=ELffe8-z","image_1160_auto":"\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/1160_auto\/public\/2018-04\/jozef_mroszczak_forum.jpg?itok=XazO3DM5","field_video_media":"","field_media_video_file":"","field_media_video_embed":"","field_gallery_pictures":"","field_duration":"","cover_height":"991","cover_width":"1000","cover_ratio_percent":"99.1","path":"en\/node\/5688","path_node":"\/en\/node\/5688"}]