On August 14th at 9:15 am, two microlight aircrafts took off from Heiligenberg; they were piloted by Walter Holzmüller and Johannes Fritz and had the two foster mothers Helena Wehner and Anne-Gabriela Schmalstieg aboard. It was the beginning of the 14th human-led migration in the context of the reintroduction of the Northern Bald Ibis in Europe. During the previous weeks, thirty birds were trained to follow the microlight aircrafts.
Heading towards a self-sustaining wild population
Last week our two field managers Daniela Trobe and Corinna Esterer started ringing the young birds hatched in the breeding areas Burghausen and Kuchl. They had quite an extensive job to do; after the last successful season of 2018 with 26 fledglings, the breeding success of 2019 is even higher, with 40 chicks in 13 nests (!) that hatched so far, and even more young birds are expected to hatch in the next weeks.
In November 2018, five members of the LIFE project for the reintroduction of the Northern Bald Ibis joined the 2nd International Wildlife Reintroduction Conference in Chicago, organised by the IUCN Reintroduction Specialist Group and attended by conservationists from all over the world.
This year we are training an excellent group of 31 young Northern Bald Ibises in Heiligenberg at Lake Constance. The birds are already reliably following the ultralight aircraft.
Currently, 36 young Northern Bald Ibises are hand-raised at the glider airfield Heiligenberg. 32 chicks stem from the breeding colony of Tierpark Rosegg in Carinthia. During the first weeks of hand-raising, they were staying at the Zoo of Vienna; mid of May, they were transferred to Heiligenberg.
The Northern Bald Ibis was downlisted in the IUCN red list of endangered species and is returning to Europe
Since 1994, the Northern Bald Ibis (NBI) was categorized as critically endangered in the IUCN Red List. Now, after 24 years, its status changed. Since August 2018, the NBI is now categorized as endangered.
The female Northern Bald Ibis Sonic belongs to the colony Überlingen; in 2017, she was guided to Tuscany and released into the wild. On June 5, 2019, Sonic left Tuscany again. Her flight is constantly monitored by GPS and can be followed by using the App Animal Tracker.
Since last year we run an exciting research project, which builds up on our successful studies on the mechanism, function and energetics of bird flight.
The autumn migration of our Northern Bald Ibises started quite regularly in early August. The birds from Burghausen and Kuchl left their breeding areas and gathered at the alpine foothills.
By now, 22 Northern Bald Ibis chicks hatched at Georgenberg in Kuchl. Last season, there were 14 young birds; this significant increase compared to the previous year is a very positive development. So far, all birds have been breeding in artificial rock niches.
This years’ spring migration of our wild birds has started earlier than ever before. The female Luna (generation 2013) has already arrived on 5 March in its breeding area in Burghausen. This is the earliest arrival in a breeding area so far.
On August 28, exactly two weeks after our departure from Überlingen at Lake Constance, we and 29 hand-raised Northern Bald Ibises arrived at the WWF Oasi Laguna di Orbetello. In the course of this extraordinary migration we covered a distance of 885 km within five flight stages.
