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 in Hatvan, Hungary on August 18th. Another sighting of the second young stork occurred on August 13th near Montelimar, France, where it 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 ringed more and more frequently to enable their identification and to collect valuable data. Loud Storks waving The systematic identification of birds began in 1899 and includes, among other things, the provision of important information about migratory behavior, life patterns and more. The ringing takes place between the 5th and 7th week of the young storks' lives, during which the birds fall into a kind of rigidity - akinesia - which makes the work easier. The fire brigade is often called in to provide support, as many nests are located high up in nests that are 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 achieved through platforms such as the Bird Migration Atlas, developed as part of the Movebank system Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Biology, enabled. The atlas maps the movements of millions of birds along the Eurasian-African migration routes and combines data from over 300 bird species. This information is crucial to promote the return of storks and conservation strategies for migratory species.

The Mügeln stork friends are now looking forward to the future and hope for the return of the young animals next spring. In view of the new findings about the different migrations of birds and the fact that important data is obtained through ringing, the people of Mügeln remain very excited. Nature always shows us that it is full of surprises.