17 votes

How an English castle became a stork magnet

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  1. ChingShih
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    I didn't know white storks could fly at altitudes of 4,800 meters (16,000 feet). That's really cool and makes sense given their symbolism in some cultures (especially East Asian) as being able to...

    I didn't know white storks could fly at altitudes of 4,800 meters (16,000 feet). That's really cool and makes sense given their symbolism in some cultures (especially East Asian) as being able to fly between Heaven and Earth. Wikipedia has a short list of high-flying birds if anyone wants to take a look. I knew that one of the vulture species could be up at the same altitude as commercial airliners (yes, really -- 34,000ft+!), but I didn't know that certain crane and geese species were also up there. Crazy!

    For those curious, this is what data from satellite-collared migratory white storks looks like. By comparison, here is a bearded vulture's migration across part of Europe (Vultures Conservation Foundation is a great European organization). Lots of small bird species make huge migrations, even bigger than some of these large birds. They're really incredible feats!

    And like the article says, for high-flying birds with good eyesight, whether they're predatory hawks or scavenging vultures, powerlines are one of the primary threats throughout the landscape because the birds have a hard time seeing the powerlines from how high up they might notice something interesting on the ground. They descend to a closer observation level too fast to avoid striking the powerlines with a wing When they strike it, the best case scenario is that the bird is unable to fly. Fortunately, there are a number of local and multi-national rescue organizations that will take in the birds if they're found in time, but it's difficult and expensive to make the rescues in a timely manner.

    8 votes