German research, led by Dr. Andrea Flack of the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Germany, has found that white storks are changing their migratory behavior. In the past, they were known to breed from Europe to north-west Africa and western Asia. Now, however, the birds are flocking to rubbish dumps where junk food can easily be found.

The study analyzed the migratory patterns of 70 juvenile storks from Armenia, Poland, Greece, Russia, Germany, Spain, Uzbekistan and Tunisia. GPS devices were used to study migration.

Storks from Poland, Russia, and Greece were found to follow their traditional migratory route of flying to as far as South Africa. However, birds from Tunisia, Germany and Spain flew only up to north of the Sahara, and spent the winter at landfills in Morocco. Storks from Armenia covered only a short distance but birds from Uzbekistan preferred to stay in their home country as a result of finding food from fish farms.

Birds that found food in easy supplies were no longer willing to spend extra energy on long-distance flights.

Dr. Flack said that the human impact is causing birds to change their migration strategy and their use of less energy appears to be of benefit to them. The easy availability of food is beneficial to the birds, but could also have long-term implications for the ecological roles that these species could play.

CLICK HERE for the detailed study