Archeology combined with ornithology: two researchers have reconstructed the distribution history of the white stork. It became clear how the prominent bird has spread around humans in Europe since ancient times. However, the stork only conquered the now intensively populated northeast of Europe, including northern Germany, in the Middle Ages. This apparently had to do with the agricultural changes during this era, the researchers explain.
According to symbolic legend, he is the bearer of children and is associated with good luck: the white stork (Ciconia ciconia) is an extremely popular and culturally important representative of the European bird world. In addition to its charismatic, prominent appearance, this has to do with the fact that it seems to value the closeness of humans: it nests on roofs and goes in search of food in fields and meadows. But to what extent is the stork actually a cultural follower? “In order to shed light on this question, we first need to know when the stork used to live and where,” says Ulrich Schmölcke from the Leibniz Center for Archeology (LEIZA) in Schleswig.
On the trail of the stork
To research this topic, the archaeologist gained the support of birdwatcher Kai-Michael Thomsen from the Michael Otto Institute in the Michael Otto Institute at the NABU Research and Education Center for Wetlands and Bird Conservation in Bergenhusen. In order to investigate the distribution history of the white stork in Europe since the last Ice Age, the two authors evaluated numerous published finds of bird bones as part of archaeological projects. They also integrated other sources and historical clues about the distribution of the birds into their study. “Thanks to this extensive database, reliable statements can be made about the distribution of the white stork over the last millennia,” says Schmölcke.
As the researchers report, it is becoming apparent that the white stork was a beneficiary of certain man-made landscape changes. Especially in the course of the expansion of the Roman Empire, it was apparently able to expand its original areas of distribution to the north and east and become more established in the human environment. “At the end of antiquity, the distribution limit of the white stork coincided exactly with the expansion of the Roman Empire. Ancient written sources show that he was already closely connected to people at that time,” says Schmölcke. In the early second century, for example, a pair of storks were reported to have nested on the roof of a temple to the goddess Concordia in central Rome, the authors write.
It only moved into northern Germany in the Middle Ages
As the research shows, at that time the white stork did not yet find suitable habitats in the European regions beyond the borders of the Roman Empire. This only changed in the course of the Middle Ages: “The northeast of the continent, including northern Germany, with its high population density today, only became part of the white stork area in the comparatively recent past. It was only about 1,000 years ago that the white stork’s range expanded rapidly to the northeast,” says Thomsen. As he explains, this apparently had to do with the agricultural change from which the stork benefited: “The development coincides with the medieval expansion of the country, during which many forests were cleared and new agricultural land was created,” says Thomsen.
According to the two researchers, the study is important for both historical research and nature conservation. “If we want to understand how species spread or why they disappear from some areas, we can’t just look at the current state. We also need to understand long-term developments,” says Thomsen. Schmölcke adds: “The study shows the great potential that collaboration between ornithology and archeology has.” Further studies on other species could now follow.
Source: Cluster of Excellence ROOTS – Social, Environmental, and Cultural Connectivity in Past Societies, specialist article: Europe. J Ornithol, doi: 10.1007/s10336-024-02206-8