Lucy Cooke: The spear-wielding stork who revolutionized science

The spear-wielding stork who revolutionized science

In 1822, Count von Bothmer shot down a stork in Germany. However, the bird had already been impaled by a yard-long wooden spear. The stork had been speared in Africa and then flew over 2,500 km. This astonishing flight proved to be an essential clue in a mystery that had plagued scientists for centuries: the seasonal disappearance of birds. Lucy Cooke digs into the discovery of bird migration. [Directed by Visorama, narrated by Addison Anderson, music by Bamm Bamm Wolfgang & Gavin Dodds].

A stork shot in Germany in 1822 was found with a yard-long African spear in its body, revealing it had flown over 2,500 kilometers after being wounded. This dramatic discovery became the first hard evidence that birds migrate vast distances, upending centuries of speculation and myth. Scientists once believed birds transformed into other species, hibernated underwater, or even flew to the moon. Persistent investigation and tracking finally mapped these epic journeys and solved one of nature’s enduring puzzles.