The spear-wielding stork who revolutionized science - Lucy Cooke

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Helen Chang

In May of 1822, Count Christian Ludwig von Bothmer

1822 年 5 月，

克利斯汀·路德維克·馮包斯摩伯爵

shot down a stork over his castle grounds in North Germany.

在他位於德國北部的城堡 領地上擊落了一隻鸛。

However, he wasn’t the first person to hunt that specific bird.

然而，他並非第一個 獵殺那隻鳥的人。

Upon recovering the stork,

在取回那隻鸛的時候，

von Bothmer found it impaled by a yard long wooden spear.

馮包斯摩發現牠被一根 一碼長的木矛給刺穿。

A local professor determined the weapon was African in origin,

一位當地的教授判定 這武器是源自非洲，

suggesting that somehow, this stork was speared in Africa

意味著，這隻鸛在非洲時 因為某種原因而被人用矛刺傷，

and then flew over 2,500 kilometers to the count’s castle.

接著飛行了兩千五百公里 來到公爵的城堡。

This astonishing flight wasn’t just evidence of the stork’s resilience.

這段驚人的航程不僅 證明了這隻鸛的恢復力。

It was an essential clue in a mystery that plagued scientists for centuries:

它也為一個科學家數世紀以來都無解的謎

帶來了重要線索：

the seasonal disappearance of birds.

鳥類的季節性消失。

Ancient naturalists had various theories to explain the annual vanishing act

古時的博物學家有各種理論

來解釋每年都會發生的消失事件，

we now know as migration.

也就是現在我們所知的遷徙。

Aristotle himself proposed three particularly popular ideas.

亞里斯多德本人 提出了三個特別著名的想法。

One theory was that birds transformed into different bodies that suited the season.

第一個理論是

鳥類配合季節轉變成不同的身體。

For example, summer time garden warblers

比如，一般相信，夏季的園林鶯

were believed to transform into black caps every winter.

每年冬季時會轉變成黑頭鶯。

In reality these are two distinct species— similar in shape and size,

事實上，這是兩種不同的物種——

形狀和大小相似， 但從來不會同時出現。

but never appearing at the same time.

Over the following centuries, birds were said to morph into humans,

在接下來數世紀，

大家認為鳥類會化身為人、

plants, and even the timbers of ships.

植物，甚至船的木材。

This last transmutation was especially popular with many Christian clergy.

許多基督教的神職人員 特別喜歡用變身為木材的說法。

If barnacle geese were truly made of wood,

如果白頰黑雁真的是木頭做的，

they could be deemed vegetarian and enjoyed during meatless fasts.

牠們就能被當作素食，

在不能吃肉的齋戒時期 也能享用牠們。

Aristotle’s second and even more enduring hypothesis was that birds hibernate.

亞里斯多德的第二個假設 流傳得更長久：

鳥類會冬眠。

This isn’t so far-fetched.

這個假設不會太牽強。

Some species do enter short,

有些物種的確會進入短暫的深眠，

deep sleeps which lower their heart rates and metabolisms.

讓牠們的心跳率和新陳代謝下降。

And there’s at least one truly hibernating bird:

且，至少有一種鳥類真的會冬眠：

the common poorwill sleeps out winters in the deserts of North America.

在北美沙漠的弱夜鷹 會以睡眠方式渡過整個冬天。

But researchers were proposing much more outlandish forms of hibernation

但研究者提出了更古怪的冬眠形式

well into the 19th century.

一直到十九世紀。

Barn swallows were said to remove their feathers and hibernate in holes,

有人說家燕會脫掉羽毛在洞裡冬眠，

or sleep through the winter at the bottom of lakes and rivers.

或者在湖泊或河流的底部 以冬眠渡過整個冬天。

Aristotle’s final theory was much more reasonable,

亞里斯多德的 最後一個理論合理許多了，

and resembled something like realistic migration.

和真正的遷徙更相似。

However, this idea was also taken to extremes.

然而，這個想法也被發揮得很極端。

In 1666, the leading migration advocate was convinced that each winter,

1666 年，

遷徙論的主要提倡者

深信每年冬天鳥類都會飛到月球。

birds flew to the moon.

It might seem strange that prominent researchers considered such bizarre ideas.

卓越的研究者會想出這些 詭異的點子，似乎挺奇怪的。

But to be fair, the true story of migration

但，說句公道話，遷徙的真相

may be even harder to believe than their wildest theories.

可能比最狂想的理論更難以置信。

Roughly 20% of all bird species migrate each year,

所有的鳥類物種當中 大約有 20% 每年會遷徙，

following warm weather and fresh food around the planet.

到全球各地追尋 溫暖的天氣和新鮮的食物。

For birds who spend their summers in the northern hemisphere,

對於在北半球渡過夏天的鳥類而言，

this journey can span from 700 to over 17,000 kilometers,

遷徙的旅程從七百 到一萬七千公里不等，

with some flights lasting as long as four months.

有些遷徙的飛行時間還長達四個月。

Birds who migrate across oceans may soar without stopping for over 100 hours.

遷徙時要飛過海洋的鳥類可能要飛翔

至少一百個小時不能停下來。

Sleeping and eating on the fly, they navigate the endless ocean

牠們在飛行時睡眠和進食，

並靠著星星、氣流、

by the stars, wind currents, and Earth’s magnetic field.

地球的磁場，在汪洋中找到方向。

Tracking the specifics of these epic expeditions is notoriously difficult.

眾所皆知，要追蹤這些 壯觀遠征的細節十分困難。

And while birds often take the most direct route possible,

雖然鳥類會盡可能 選擇最直接的路線，

暴風雨以及人類的開發 有可能會改變牠們的路徑，

storms and human development can alter their paths,

further complicating our attempts to chart migration.

讓我們更難畫出遷徙的路線圖。

Fortunately, Count von Bothmer’s stork offered physical proof

幸運的是，馮包斯摩伯爵的鸛 提供了實體的證據，

not only that European storks were migrating south for the winter,

不僅證明了歐洲的鸛 在冬季會向南遷徙，

but also where they were migrating to.

也證明了牠們遷徙的目的地。

Ornithologists across the continent

歐洲各地的鳥類學家

were eager to map the trajectory of this flight,

都很熱衷想要畫出 遷徙的飛行路線圖，

including Johannes Thienemann.

包括約翰內斯·帝內曼在內。

Owner of the world’s first permanent bird observatory,

帝內曼擁有世界上第一個 固定性的鳥類觀察站，

Thienemann was a major public advocate for the study of birds.

他是鳥類研究的重要公開推動者。

And to solve the field’s biggest mystery,

為了解決這個領域最大的謎，

he wrangled an army of volunteers from across Germany.

他從德國各地找來自願者，組成大軍。

His team used aluminum rings to tag the legs of two thousand storks

他的團隊在兩千隻鸛的腳上 裝上鋁環做為標記，

with unique numbers and the address of his offices.

標記上有不同的編號 以及他的辦公室地址。

Then he advertised the initiative as widely as possible.

接著，他盡可能廣泛地宣傳這活動，

His hope was that word of the experiment would find its way to Africa,

希望這實驗的消息能傳到非洲，

so people finding the tags would know to mail them back with more information.

發現標記的人就會知道要 把標記與更多資訊一同寄回來。

Sure enough, from 1908 to 1913,

果然，從 1908 年到 1913 年，

Thienemann received 178 rings, 48 of which had been found in Africa.

帝內曼收到了一百七十八個鋁環，

當中有四十八個是在非洲找到的。

Using this data, he plotted the first migration route ever discovered,

他用這些資料繪出了 史上最早發現的遷徙路徑，

and definitively established that storks were not, in fact, flying to the moon.

也確實證明了鸛事實上 並沒有飛到月球去。