Rostock Pfeilstorch: The Arrow Stork & The Truth About Migration

[Yithian]

This is the Rostock Pfeilstorch. Discovered in 1822 in a field in Northern Germany it has a 76cm spear through its neck. Despite being injured in central Africa the bird completed its summer migration to the North. It was the discovery of this bird that provided the proof for the migration theory of birds.

Pfeilstorch means “arrow stork” and since the initial discovery there have been at least 25 further documented discoveries. These days, with GPS trackers and bird tagging it is hard to credit the theories that prior generations of scientists had for the disappearance of certain birds and their later re-appearance.

Migration was only one of many theories. Hibernation was another, with some believing that the birds hibernated under the sea. Flying to the moon was out there as a possibility when science had little conception of the vastness of space or the power of gravity and the lack of atmosphere. For people who saw rabbits and foxes turn white in winter it was a small stretch to believe that birds changed into other animals.

Only in the last 200 years have we learned the truth. That is the blink of an eye. How many other beliefs do we have that need to be tested and challenged?

Source:
https://donalclancy.wordpress.com/2021/04/16/stuck-storks/

Alternative Source:

The term Pfeilstorch (German for 'arrow stork', pronounced [ˈpfaɪ̯l.ˌʃtɔɐ̯ç]; plural Pfeilstörche, [-ˌʃtœɐ̯.çə]) is given to storks injured by an arrow while wintering in Africa, before returning to Europe with the arrow stuck in their bodies. As of 2003, around 25 Pfeilstörche have been documented in Germany.

The first and most famous Pfeilstorch was a white stork found in 1822 near the German village of Klütz, in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. It was carrying a 75-centimetre (30-inch) spear from central Africa in its neck. The specimen was stuffed and can be seen today in the zoological collection of the University of Rostock. It is therefore referred to as the Rostocker Pfeilstorch.

This Pfeilstorch was crucial in understanding the migration of European birds. Before migration was understood, people struggled to explain the sudden annual disappearance of birds like the white stork and barn swallow. Besides migration, some theories of the time held that they turned into other kinds of birds, mice, or hibernated underwater during the winter, and such theories were even propagated by zoologists of the time. The Rostocker Pfeilstorch in particular proved that birds migrate long distances to wintering grounds.

Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pfeilstorch

Much more on this and avian migration in general here:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08wmk5j

 

[Endlessly Amazed]

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This is the Rostock Pfeilstorch. Discovered in 1822 in a field in Northern Germany it has a 76cm spear through its neck. Despite being injured in central Africa the bird completed its summer migration to the North. It was the discovery of this bird that provided the proof for the migration theory of birds.

Pfeilstorch means “arrow stork” and since the initial discovery there have been at least 25 further documented discoveries. These days, with GPS trackers and bird tagging it is hard to credit the theories that prior generations of scientists had for the disappearance of certain birds and their later re-appearance.

Migration was only one of many theories. Hibernation was another, with some believing that the birds hibernated under the sea. Flying to the moon was out there as a possibility when science had little conception of the vastness of space or the power of gravity and the lack of atmosphere. For people who saw rabbits and foxes turn white in winter it was a small stretch to believe that birds changed into other animals.

Only in the last 200 years have we learned the truth. That is the blink of an eye. How many other beliefs do we have that need to be tested and challenged?

Source:
https://donalclancy.wordpress.com/2021/04/16/stuck-storks/

Alternative Source:

The term Pfeilstorch (German for 'arrow stork', pronounced [ˈpfaɪ̯l.ˌʃtɔɐ̯ç]; plural Pfeilstörche, [-ˌʃtœɐ̯.çə]) is given to storks injured by an arrow while wintering in Africa, before returning to Europe with the arrow stuck in their bodies. As of 2003, around 25 Pfeilstörche have been documented in Germany.

The first and most famous Pfeilstorch was a white stork found in 1822 near the German village of Klütz, in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. It was carrying a 75-centimetre (30-inch) spear from central Africa in its neck. The specimen was stuffed and can be seen today in the zoological collection of the University of Rostock. It is therefore referred to as the Rostocker Pfeilstorch.

This Pfeilstorch was crucial in understanding the migration of European birds. Before migration was understood, people struggled to explain the sudden annual disappearance of birds like the white stork and barn swallow. Besides migration, some theories of the time held that they turned into other kinds of birds, mice, or hibernated underwater during the winter, and such theories were even propagated by zoologists of the time. The Rostocker Pfeilstorch in particular proved that birds migrate long distances to wintering grounds.

Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pfeilstorch

Much more on this and avian migration in general here:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08wmk5j

Thank you, Yithian. This is great!

It certainly gives a view into how faulty hypotheses evolve, take hold as orthodoxy, and then can be replaced with better.