Although white storks are distinct birds easy to identify, there are still many secrets to uncover about them. Therefore, a book like "Boten des Wandels - Den Störchen auf der Spur" by Holger Schulz is necessary to learn more about these wonderful birds and distribute knowledge about them. What are the migration routes of white storks? Where do they preferably stay on their migration? And which threats are they exposed to? This book reveals answers to at least some questions about white storks. Thus, I very recommend to read this informative but also exciting book!
Title: Boten des Wandels - Den Störchen auf der Spur
Author: Holger Schulz
Imprint: Rowohlt
Length: 271 pages
Published: 2019
Language: German
Blurb
Tausende von Kilometern legen sie jedes Jahr zurück: Wenn die Störche im Spätsommer ihre europäischen Brutgebiete in Richtung Afrika verlassen, begeben sie sich auf eine riskante Reise. Welche Gefahren ihnen drohen, welche Hindernisse sie bewältigen müssen und wie unsere Zivilisation ihr Leben beeinflusst - dies und vieles andere hat der Storchenexperte Holger Schulz erforscht. Mehr als 30 Jahre lang hat der Biologe die Zugvögel begleitet. Ob im Storchendorf Bergenhusen oder auf wagemutigen Expeditionen fernab jeder Straße: In vielen Winkeln der Erde hat er die Lebenswelt der Weißstörche erkundet, um mehr über sie herauszufinden und ihr Verhalten zu studieren. Er gibt in seinem Buch Einblick in eine Feldforschung, die wahrhaftig ein Abenteuer ist.
Thoughts about the book
What do white storks feed on their migration? How does their diurnal rhythm looks like in their wintering grounds? How much and how often do they move from one place to the other? And how long do they stay at one place?
There are still so many secrets about white storks and these are just some questions which Holger Schulz - a white stork expert - tries to answer about these birds on his long journeys. In order to better understand the migratory behavior of white storks, the author Holger Schulz embarks on several month-long journeys. On his journeys he is exposed to merciless heat - far away from his home and without his family - or a breakdown of his car in rural Africa. But his exhausting journeys have an important goal.
Finding out more about the white stork.
Holger Schulz witnesses on his adventures unique experiences of nature like, for example, the gathering of thousands of white storks in a pond in Sudan. He discovers extraordinary behavior in white storks like defecating on legs in order to prevent overheating.
If you read this book, you will learn many fascinating facts and knowledge about white storks. Did you know that white storks preferably migrate on hot days? White storks preferably migrate on hot days because of the thermal updraft. The thermal updraft is stronger on hot days than on cooler days. Even in the wintering grounds white storks use this way of moving around in order to save energy and reach water holes far away.
Although the book "Boten des Wandels" is full with knowledge and information, the book is still interestingly written as one month-long journey follows the other. The author also writes about his move to Bergenhusen where he encounters many more white storks to write about.
However, this book exists not only to inform and entertain ourselves, Holger Schulz does not forget to mention all the threats white storks are exposed to on their migration routes. The number of white storks has recovered in the last decades, but still, white storks encounter many threats on their migration from the north to the south and on their way back.
Hunting of white storks. Pesticides. Habitat destruction. Or plastics on dumpsites. These are just some of the threats white storks often are exposed to. However, 77% of 301 white storks, which Holger Schulz followed during a project called SOS Storch on their migrations, died of electrocution at medium-voltage power poles.
Therefore, "Boten des Wandels" is not only a captivating travel report, but also an important book in order to raise awareness for all the threats white storks encounter on their migration.
Conclusion
Educational and informative. But also adventurous and captivating. A book about the behavior of white storks on their migration. An important book about this wonderful bird and how our lives affect and change the behavior of this migratory bird. Thus, a very readable book to recommend!
Have you read the book "Boten des Wandels"? Or is there any other book about white storks you can recommend to read? Please let me know in the comments!
