Young Mügeln Storks: Surprising sightings in Hungary and France!

Young Mügeln Storks: Surprising sightings in Hungary and France!

In the past few weeks the Mügeln storks have begun their journey south. Both the adult birds and two young storks set off. Expected with great anticipation by the stork-loving people of Mügeln, the first sightings of the young animals have now been reported. How LVZ reports, the first young stork was spotted on August 18 in Hatvan, Hungary. Another sight of the second young stork was on August 13 near Montelimar, France, where he was photographed.

Hatvan, close to Budapest, and Montelimar, located in the south of France, offer interesting insights into the migration routes of storks. The stork caretaker Hans-Jürgen Höhne is happy to comment on these reports and also expects further discoveries about the migrations of the Müller storks. What is particularly exciting is the different route choices the young birds take. Bernd Holfter, who is responsible for the ringing, is surprised by the decision: One stork chooses the direct route to the south, while the other takes the eastern route. What influences the storks in their respective choices is currently unclear.

The importance of ringing

In recent years, young storks have been rings more and more to enable their identification and collect valuable data. Loud Waber storks The systematic labeling of birds began in 1899 and includes, among other things, the delivery of important information about train behavior, life patterns and more. Provision is made between the 5th and 7th week of the young storks, with the birds falling into a kind of rigid - an acinesis - which makes work easier. The fire brigade is often consulted for support because many nests are high up in difficult to access.

The construction of ELSA rings, which consist of two plastic parts and contain an identification code, is considered a proven method in ornithology. These rings are placed on the right leg in odd years and on the left leg in even years. Color rings from various bird observatories, including the Heligoland Bird Observatory, supplement identification and make the migratory birds easy to recognize for researchers.

The migration routes and the bird migration atlas

A comprehensive understanding of the migration of storks and other bird species is developed via platforms such as the bird train atlas, as part of the MoveBank system on Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Biology, made possible. The Atlas offers a mapping of the movements of millions of birds on the Eurasian-African zugrikäuten and combines data from over 300 bird species. This information is crucial to promote the return of the storks and the maintenance strategies for wandering species.

The Mügelner Storchenfreunde are now facing the future and hope for the return of the young animals in the coming spring. In view of the new knowledge about the various hikes of the birds and the fact that important data is obtained by sending, the tension in the ironers remains great. Nature always shows us that it is full of surprises.