by PATERZELL, Germany (AP) – How do you teach a bird how, and where, to fly?
Breeding and rehunting efforts over the past two decades have revived the distinctive Northern Bald Ibis, which was essentially hunted by the 17th century. But the birds – recognized by their distinctive black-and-ridescent green plumage, red bald head and long curved beak – do not instinctively know which direction to migrate without guidance from wild-born elders. So a team of scientists and conservationists stepped in as foster parents and flight instructors.
“We have to teach them the way of migration,” said biologist Johannes Fritz.
At one time, the Northern Bald Ibis soared over North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and much of Europe, including southern Germany’s Bavaria. The migratory birds were also considered sensitive and the bird, known as the Waldrapp in German, disappeared from Europe, although some colonies survived elsewhere.
The efforts of Fritz and the Waldrappteam, a conservation and research group based in Austria, have brought the Central European population from zero to nearly 300 since their project began in 2002.
The feat moved the species from “critically endangered” to “endangered” and, according to Fritz, is the first attempt to reintroduce an extinct migratory bird species.
But while Northern Bald Ibises still show the natural urge to migrate, they don’t know which direction to fly without guidance from wild-born elders. Early attempts to introduce Waldrappteam were not very successful because, without teaching the birds the migration route, most of them left soon after being released. Instead of returning to suitable wintering grounds such as Tuscany, Italy, they flew in different directions and eventually died.
So the Waldrappteam came in as foster parents and flight instructors for the Central European population, which was made up of offspring from multiple zoo colonies and released into the wild in hopes of forming a migratory group. This year is the 17th trip with human-led migration guides, and the second time they have been asked to pilot a new route to Spain due to climate change.
To prepare them for travel, the chicks are removed from their breeding colonies when they are only a few days old. They are taken to an aviary supervised by the foster parents in the hope of “imprinting” — when the birds will bond with those people to trust them along the migration route.
Barbara Steininger, foster mother for the Waldrapp team, said she is acting as “their mother bird”.
“We feed them, we clean them, we clean their nests. We take good care of them and see that they are healthy birds,” she said. “But also we interact with them.”
Steininger and the other foster parents then sit on the back of a microbeam aircraft, shouting and shouting encouragement through a bullhorn as it flies through the air.
It’s a strange sight: The aircraft looks like a flying go-kart with a huge fan on the back and a yellow parachute holding it aloft. However, three dozen birds follow the contraption, piloted by Fritz, as it sails over alpine meadows and foothills.
Fritz was inspired by “Father Goose” Bill Lishman, a naturalist who taught Canada geese to fly alongside his ultralight airplane starting in 1988. He later guided endangered whooping cranes through safe routes and founded the non-profit “Operation Migration” . Lishman’s work inspired the 1996 film “Fly Away Home” but the “mother” of the geese is a young girl.
Like Lishman, the efforts of Fritz and his team worked. The first bird went independently back to Bavaria in 2011 from Tuscany. More have flown the route of over 550 kilometers (342 miles) each year, and the team hopes that by 2028 the Central European population will be more than 350 birds and self-sustaining.
But the effects of climate change mean the Waldrapp are now migrating later in the season, forcing them to cross the Alps in colder and more dangerous weather – without the help of warm air currents, known as thermals, which rises up and helps the. birds soar without expending extra energy.
In response, the Waldrappteam piloted a new route in 2023, from Bavaria to Andalusia in southern Spain.
This year, the route is around 2,800 kilometers (1,740 miles) – about 300 kilometers (186 miles) longer than last year’s route. Earlier this month from an airfield in Paterzell, in upper Bavaria, the team guided 36 birds for a single stage through bright blue skies and a tailwind that increased their speed.
The entire trip to Spain could take up to 50 days and would end in early October. But Fritz says the effort is about more than just the Northern Bald Ibises: It’s about paving the way for other threatened migratory species to fly.
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Dazio reported from Berlin.
