32 juvenile Northern Bald Ibises in Sweden, Denmark and northern Germany
As reported two weeks ago (see newsletter: Young birds flying to northern Germany and Sweden), a large group of Northern Bald Ibises set off northwards from Salzburg on October 28th. After the only two experienced, sub-adult birds and another juvenile bird flew back after just one day, only inexperienced juvenile birds, 31 in total, are still travelling in Northern Europe.
First electricity pylons in Hochburg-Ach secured against electrocution
Electrocution continues to be one of the most common causes of death in the reintroduced Northern Bald Ibis population. Most recently, four Northern Bald Ibises from the Burghausen colony died in July on a pylon in Tarsdorf (Upper Austria)
We made it: We have arrived at our destination
A journey of 2.320 kilometres lies behind us. We were on the move for 43 days, flew 19 stages with an average lenght of 120 kilometres, and the flight team spent about 50 hours in the air together with the birds. Finally, we arrived with 32 juvenile Northern Bald Ibises, three birds were lost during the flights in Spain
Positive interim balance of the first human-led migration to Andalusia
35 juvenile birds, 2 aircraft, 3 countries, 14 flight stages and 1.620 kilometres of flight – that is the positive interim balance of the human-led migration Baden-Württemberg to Barbate and Vejer de la Frontera in Andalusia.
Human-led migration 2023: Past Barcelona
The past week was turbulent but also very successful. Successful because we were able to continue migrating on five out of seven days, whereby we flew the final three days without any break days in between.
Human-led migration 2023: One third completed
On 3rd September, two weeks after the start, the team with the birds is at the very beautifully situated Saint Martin de Londres airfield north of Montpellier. On 4th September, a flight stage to Narbonne is planned. After this, our next stopover site will be in Spain.
Successful start of the human-led migration 2023
On August 21st, after some delay, the great journey from Binningen airfield, municipality of Hilzingen in Baden-Württemberg, to Vejer de la Frontera in Andalusia began. This is already the 16th human-led migration within the Northern Bald Ibis project, but it is a journey of superlatives and a big new challenge for the whole team.
Big stage for the Northern Bald Ibis
On August 19th, the New York Times published a large article on the Northern Bald Ibis project:
The New York Times: To Stop an Extinction, He’s Flying High, Followed by His Beloved Birds
Delayed but successful: Final training of 35 juvenile birds at Binningen airfield
In the last few weeks, unfavourable weather conditions have repeatedly hampered training with the juvenile Northern Bald Ibises at Binningen airfield, municipality of Hilzingen. In particular, the wind, which often emerged in the morning, has prevented flights of longer distances, as the predicted wind speed was close to the flying speed of the aircraft and the birds, around 45 km/h.
Electrocution of three juvenile Northern Bald Ibises and one parent-bird in Upper Austria
Never before has the breeding season in the Northern Bald Ibis colony of Burghausen in Bavaria been as successful as this year. A total of 23 birds fledged in seven nests, which corresponds to an average of 3.3 juveniles per nest.