17/05/2025
This is a stork found in 1822 in Germany with spear from central Africa stucked to its neck.
The discovery helped zoologists of the time understand the migration of European birds which had previously been unexplainable.
For centuries, the sudden disappearance of certain bird species during winter puzzled Europeans, leading to a variety of bizarre theories—some believed the birds hibernated underwater, transformed into different animals, or even flew to the moon.
The mystery began to unravel in 1822, when a discovery was made by German nobleman Christian Ludwig von Bothmer during a hunting expedition. He found a white stork in northern Germany with a Central African spear lodged through its neck—yet the bird had survived the journey back.
This “arrow-stork” (known in German as the Pfeilstorch) provided the first concrete evidence that birds migrate to warmer climates during the winter. The stork was preserved and is still on display today at the University of Rostock, serving as a striking symbol of the origins of modern ornithology.
