How do you teach a migratory bird where to fly to? This was the question facing conservationists trying to re-establish the northern bald ibis — known for its distinctive black-and-green plumage, bald red head and long curved beak — in the wild in Europe.
These birds — known in German as Waldrapp — once soared over much of Europe, the Middle East, and northern Africa. By the 17th century, they were effectively hunted to extinction in the wild, with only a few colonies surviving in Morocco and Syria.
Over the last two decades, breeding and rewilding efforts have borne fruit. Biologist Johannes Fritz and his Austria-based conservation group Waldrappteam have brought the bird’s population in central Europe from zero to almost 300 since 2002.
But these birds, born of ancestors raised in zoos, do not instinctively know where to migrate to in winter. Early reintroduction attempts failed because they did not go to suitable wintering grounds, and perished in the cold. This led conservationists to adopt a fascinating new strategy.
Flying with birds
Inspired by the 1996 film Fly Away Home in which the protagonist pilots a tiny airplane to show orphaned geese their migratory path, Waldrappteam’s scientist “foster parents” use ultralight aircraft to lead young birds down long migration routes.
To prepare for the journey, day-old chicks are removed from their breeding colonies and brought to human foster parents with whom they bond and develop a trusting relationship.
“We take good care of them and see that they are healthy birds… Also, we interact with them,” Barbara Steininger, a Waldrappteam foster mother, told The Associated Press. Steininger and other foster parents sitting in the aircraft wave at the birds and encourage them as they fly over alpine meadows and foothills.
“It’s an almost surreal experience, to be up there in the sky with these birds, experiencing them in the air, perfectly shaped for flying. It’s a touching and extraordinary experience,” Fritz told The Guardian.
Climate challenge
Initially, the birds were taught to fly from Bavaria to Tuscany in central Italy. This was the route that wild Waldrapps in central Europe historically flew. The first independent migration took place in 2011, and many birds have since flown on the roughly 550-km route.
But the effects of climate change have meant that these birds are now flying later in the season. This leads them to cross the Alps in colder, more dangerous weather, and without the help of warm currents of air that rise upward and enable flying birds to conserve energy.
This is why Waldrappteam pioneered a new, albeit much longer route last year, from Bavaria to Andalusia in southern Spain. This year’s route is roughly 2,800 km, about 300 km longer than last year’s. Fritz set off earlier this month with a flock of 36 birds from an airfield in Paterzell in upper Bavaria. The journey will be completed in early October.
Blueprint for others
Global warming threatens plant and animal species around the world. For migratory birds that undertake lengthy journeys to find ideal ecological conditions and habitats for feeding, breeding, and raising their young, climate change poses particular challenges.
Studies show global warming is altering migration patterns, both routes and timing, exposing birds to new environments and conditions, affecting availability of food and habitat, and disrupting interactions between species. Some bird species have chosen not to migrate altogether, or to migrate to locations where they become invasive species, posing threats to others.
This is why the conservation of the northern bald ibis is significant. “This method which we’ve developed with the bald ibis is urgently needed for an increasing number of other migratory bird species,” Fritz told The Guardian, adding that this is “a flagship project which indicates what is possible”.
With inputs from the AP