"The glorious annual migration of white storks from Europe to Africa is being disrupted by the birds’ growing addiction to junk food in the garbage dumps below their flight path. Thousands no longer make the crossing for the winter, preferring to build year-round nests at rubbish pits in Spain and Portugal. The storks feast on readily available hamburger fragments, pizza scraps and assorted leftovers from overfed humans, rather than fly thousands of miles more for their traditional diet of frogs, beetles and grasshoppers in sub-Saharan Africa. While the study demonstrates the storks’ adaptability to humans, this talent will soon be further tested. The European Union, plans new regulations for garbage disposal. Open refuse pits will be replaced by enclosed composting factories, detouring the storks once more.
At www.nytimes.com
