This bird solved a major mystery

[@TaylerJDust]

I used to be a stork like you, but then I took an arrow to germany

[@Pingviinimursu]

Nice, can't believe I feel nostalgia for these jokes 😂😅

[@grmpf]

It's kind of wild until how relatively recently we didn't know about this and even wilder just how strange some of the theories about what happened to the birds were. And: Sophie is right, the very stork from this question was taxidermied and is still on display in the Zoological Collection of the University of Rostock.

[@caffeineau]

I wonder if it died of natural causes, or someone thought "oohh that would be nice in my museum and 'collected' it". Pretty unfortunate for the stork; "Yes, I've survived being shot through the neck! I'm the luckiest bird alive!". Next minute...

[@JohnDoe-ti2np]

Yes. I was amazed a few years ago when I learned of the so-called "barnacle goose myth." I still have trouble believing that anybody seriously believed this myth, but apparently many people did.

[@alveolate]

this makes all the hooplah about "scientists not knowing where eels come from" (they do now) a lot less silly

[@UngodlyFreak]

Yeah, you'd think that some European colonialists would have noticed that the African colonies had same kinds of birds during winter as Europe has during summer and then just put two and two together. Or maybe they did notice that but it never became common knowledge?

[@grmpf]

@@caffeineau You're right in assuming the worst for the stork. It was discovered by people who lived on the grounds of the Schloss Bothmer palatial manor in Klütz and subsequently killed there, allegedly by Christian Ludwig Reichsgraf von Bothmer (Imperial Count whose estate this was) himself. He then had it sent to the Grand Ducal Taxidermy Workshop, which was apparently a thing, at the Grand Ducal residence in Ludwigslust. Shortly thereafter, Grand Duke Friedrich Franz I handed it over to the Zoological Collection in Rostock where it has been for most of the past 200+ years.

[@geocider22]

I think this was the first time that I knew the answer before the question was even finished. I guess watching all of that QI actually paid off!

[@hannahk1306]

That's where I knew it from!

[@bettyswallocks6411]

Same.

[@greensteve9307]

Ditto!

[@LupinoArts]

I actually knew that one before, but having wikipedia'd it (thanks for the Search term 'pfeilstorch'), I just learned that there are actually 25 recorded "Pfeilstörche" by now. Wicked.

[@alveolate]

smh the younger generation of african hunters these days just aren't the same

[@erictaylor5462]

I once helped a goose family by rescuing the babies. Later that season the mother or father goose landed by me to show me the babies that were much bigger now, then later still the entire goose family landed to show me the babies had learned to fly (though one baby was missing). The following spring one of the geese landed near me and waited, they wanted to show off their new babied.

[@__dane__]

Was expecting a joke about the weight of an unladen swallow

[@myladycasagrande863]

An African swallow or a European swallow?

[@blockmath_2048]

@@myladycasagrande863 I don't know that!

[@metropod]

@@blockmath_2048 off the cliff you go...

[@paulthomas8262]

well you need to deduct the coconut.

[@hairyairey]

@@blockmath_2048 aaarrggghhhh!

[@kayleighlehrman9566]

The stork was wounded such that it lost all its feathers, and was thus a man.

[@seselis625]

Ngl my mind also went here 😂😂

[@rolfs2165]

Happy Diogenes noises?

[@nanardeurlambda]

5:55 I think my favorite hypothesis was "they must grow from plants that simply don't grow during winter!"

[@nate_storm]

3:17 “People have been happily experimenting on animals for a long time.” - Tom Scott

[@robertjarman3703]

Oh, so it isn't The Galactic Core sending a conceived egg to the fallopian tubes of Sailor Moon to give birth to her daughter. Good to know.

[@1FatLittleMonkey]

what.gif

[@empath69]

Of course not! That'd be silly... ...it's The Galactic Core sending a conceived egg to the Fallopian tubes of Sailor Moon to give birth to her *mother*. FAR more sensible.

[@SenshiSunPower]

Is that something that actually happened?

[@_D_P_]

These anime fetishes never cease to fascinate me.

[@robertjarman3703]

@@SenshiSunPower In the manga, yes. Galactic cauldron means the source of her power, and she does have a daughter. People hardly complain about magic conception of Mary, why are they complaining about a super heroine?

[@Amanda-C.]

Aw, I knew this one! That's the arrow-shot stork that proved it had passed over some part of Africa, demonstating seasonal migration.

[@peperoni_pepino]

Reminds me of a certain Monty Python scene. Is a spear much heavier than a coconut?

[@hebl47]

Well, it depends: An Indonesian or a Brazilian coconut? But at least there's no problem about the grip.

[@MadSwedishGamer]

Depends on the spear, but a stork is a good bit bigger than even an African swallow.

[@SmallBlogV8]

I'm pretty sure this was on QI years ago, which is probably the bell that's ringing in their heads.

[@DasGanon]

Katie basically gets it then everyone gets derailed.

[@Jenthura]

ikr? I thought I saw frustration on her face, could just be me projecting.

[@nariu7times328]

Love this show and podcast! Just such intelligent fun!

[@hairyneil]

From the opening paragraph on Wikipedia: As of 2003, about 25 Pfeilstörche have been documented in Germany. 25?!

[@dliessmgg]

before watching any answering: the debate was about what storks are doing when they're not around. this was a famous stork that got wounded somewhere in africa, and then did the yearly migration up to germany.

[@dliessmgg]

eh, close enough

[@davimurph]

You have a very positive view of Aristotle, a man who believed women had fewer teeth than men but didn't bother counting.

[@KitagumaIgen]

Important for logic and philosophy, rubbish as scientist.

[@hannahk1306]

I actually knew this one! When Katie said that she remembered something about a spear, that confirmed it. Although, I can't quite believe that someone came up with "fly to the moon" before "fly to another country"! 😆

[@olivier2553]

I thought about migration immediately because we have a French thriller novel built around storks migration.

[@KernelLeak]

Fruit flies like a banana, Time flies like an arrow, Der Pfeilstorch probably just wanted To have this arrow removed... :(

That does not rhyme...

[@konstantin_d.m]

I JUST thought, a lateral video would complete my evening :)

[@sidarthur8706]

yo he's carried on with it. i'd hoped he would, tihs is one of the best ideas he's had

[@Yupppi]

This has to be something like the myth of dying swan's call.

[@eshiffer]

My favorite medieval theory to explain disappearing birds was that certain geese (which migrate to the Arctic to nest) actually hatched out of barnacles.

[@sophiamarchildon3998]

Initial thoughts: the navigation method, magnetic, sunlight based, dead-reckoning, memory, etc. Or if they could only stand/sleep on one leg? But that's not very Lateral. My bet is on magnetic navigation for those. And then is it if they would set/land away from shallow water?

[@sophiamarchildon3998]

Results: it was far more basic than I was expecting; and in a lot of ways not Lateral enough. By the early 19th century and the whole globe circumnavigation and mapping, surely this would have been supported by proof before.

[@YourBuddyDinec]

"What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen stork?"

[@petertaylor4980]

The alternative hypotheses mentioned near the end are positively mild compared to some of the ideas people used to have about animal lifecycles. Hint: why is a barnacle goose called that?

[@hyderabbitjuega5962]

Is this about where does birds go on winter? I have just heard the question and i think that is the answer.

[@rillab]

Remember folks: some things that are basic knowledge to us now can be that because people like Aristotle were thinking about it and found the answer. This one needn't have been a difficult question either, it just took people a bit longer to find the answer.

[@Forr0n]

I can walk to the castle, where it was found, from my home. I love the story and the fact that since then nothing really exciting has happened here.

[@Slikx666]

Finally one I knew. But I was sure Kate or Tom would have got it straight away.

[@abigailcooling6604]

0:09 Gonna need to sit this one out - think I've heard this before. Edit: Yes! My random knowledge of 19th century storks is correct.

[@renedekker9806]

The most amazing is a quote from the Wikipedia page: "As of 2003, about 25 Pfeilstörche have been documented in Germany" Apparently, this is a common thing that happens.

[@andyt2510]

Aristotle, Aristotle was a bugger for the bottle....

[@greensteve9307]

...And Hobbes was fond of his dram...

[@demis9879]

and here i was thinking about coconut migration xd

[@yaroslavkurgansky6205]

Crazy to think that in the 19th century we didn't know where birds go, and in the 21st century we have AI that operates through silicon chips that we made. The progress made by humanity in just two centuries is unbelievable

[@deafeningoctopus]

The fact they used to think birds migrated to the moon is honestly kinda cute

[@myladycasagrande863]

​@@andrewgrant6516how often do you smell birds' feet?

[@MaxFlorian1001]

@@myladycasagrande863 "Yes"

[@JOCoStudio1]

Im shocked they took so long. Id never heard of this stork before but that was the obvious answer

[@murphygreen8484]

As a Yank, I'll never get tired of the brits here saying Stok

[@goldenmooshroomgirl6795]

Here when most of the comments are bots. Can't wait to be proven how idiotic I am once more!

[@ab-mc2nq]

ok i'm 20 seconds in and i fully expect the answer to be "where do babies come from?"

[@Hupfen]

finally someone mocked up Detective Inspector Bird

[@peterstockhausen8806]

Bird Law?

[@stapler942]

That's about the most metal piercing I can think of. Even if it's mostly wood.

[@markchapman6800]

It's really weird that Katie's vague recollection was 90% of the way there, but they proceeded to wander off. I almost expected Tom to get it immediately.

[@ParametricGold]

I thought this was already mentioned in an earlier episode, or in the comments of an earlier episode.

[@mikelocalypse]

I understand the baby reference, but was dissapointed there wasn't one mention of coconuts 🤔

[@sandwich2473]

This is one of those ones I knew right off :P

[@aenorist2431]

Migration? Was it a Stork that was identifiable due to injury, which had been in Africa? We did not have solid, irrefutable evidence of our birds being the same birds we can see in Africa in Winter. Long distance migration was a hypothesis for very long times.

[@MountainHawkPYL]

What is the velocity of an injured stork? African or European?

[@tld8102]

The thumbnail makes tom look younger

[@lucbloom]

Where birds go in the winter; the stork had an African spear in its neck

[@TonyLambregts]

Came looking for this comment.

[@VirtuellJo]

This one I knew thanks to QI. I guess there is where Katie and Tom got it from too.

[@erikverhoef5718]

Same here.

[@erikverhoef5718]

Series K, episode 7.

[@bettyswallocks6411]

So, it was a _stork_ that dropped the tortoise on Aeschylus’s head?

[@Becky_Cooling]

Knew this one instantly

[@Myrtanae]

As a German, this is a rather well known story. Nonetheless, Kodus to you all 😊

[@erictaylor5462]

Sometimes murder is called fowl play. Perhaps the bird solved a murder mystery.

[@dianefields6056]

First one I've ever known.

[@rob-c.]

It was on QI. I just assume Katie (and possible Tom) saw it on that.

[@epimorphism]

migration patterns

[@asac159]

QI, just before Steven Fry left!

[@younganderson7777]

wasn't this on an earlier episode?

[@JasperJanssen]

Maybe it was on QI?

[@27pattywhack2]

No

[@erikverhoef5718]

@@JasperJanssen It was. Series K, episode 7.

[@wafaatqiya]

Was it something about immigration? Like it was an unrecognisable bird and turns out the wound was from an an african arrow or something, proving the theory that birds immigrate.

[@wafaatqiya]

OH I WAS RIGHT BUT SAID IMMIGRATION INSTEAD OF MIGRATION 😭😭😭

[@wafaatqiya]

OMG I WAS CORRECT ABT THE AFRICAN ARROW TOO 😭😭 IWAS JUST GUESSING

[@wafaatqiya]

Probably heard abt it somewhere once but forgot lol

[@erikverhoef5718]

QI series K, episode 7

[@fariesz6786]

oh we _do_ go to the moon, just with a detour over Africa ( ")

[@quintuscrinis]

So nothing to do with the old debate about the 4 types of fluid and circulation then. When was that debunked?

[@xavierwright]

should be a pedant, and say it landed in the german confederation in 1822, but I won't. :)

[@m.h.6470]

We get it, the "ch" is hard to pronounce for non-german speakers

[@cankoklu]

I think this was one of the most interesting "lateral"s.. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pfeilstorch