Shorty back in Switzerland
Newsletter, 16.10.2014
Shorty has returned to Switzerland
Since today, October 16, the Northern Bald Ibis "Shorty" is back again in Switzerland. The bird carries a GPS device, it´s current position is between St. Gallen and Uzwil. The female Shorty gained fame in Switzerland, since she lost contact to her experienced fellows during the autumn migration. For lack of knowledge of the appropriate wintering area in Tuscany, she overwintered all by herself in Switzerland near lake Zug.
The presence of this rare bird caused much sensation. Repeated catching attempts aiming to reunite Shorty with her fellows failed. Surprisingly for experts, Shorty overwintered at Lake Zug, accompanied by geese, cormorants, crows and other birds. Since autumn 2013, Shorty can also be admired at Zug as a sculpture, created by the artist Martin Chramosta.
In July 2013, Shorty returned as expected to her place of birth at Burghausen (Bavaria), where she finally was reunited with her fellows. In autumn, she was transported by members of Waldrappteam to the wintering area in Tuscany, and back again to Burghausen in spring 2014.There she was set free, equipped with a GPS transmitter. A week ago, Shorty was yet staying with her fellows, which are currently on their way across the Alps, heading towards Tuscany. Then, she separated from them and flew to Switzerland by herself again.
In contrast to 2012, Shorty now knows the position of the wintering area. So this time it´s likely that she will fly via Switzerland and France along the main chain of the Alps to the wintering area in Italy. She wouldn´t be the first Northern Bald Ibis to fly westwards around the Alps to the Tuscany. We are very curious if Shorty will overwinter in Switzerland again, or whether she will go on flying to Italy. In any case, Shorty is an extraordinary "personality". It´s quite possible that she´ll become a forerunner of a Swiss population of Northern Bald Ibises with a western migration corridor along the Alps to Tuscany. Thanks to the natural scientist Conrad Gesner (1516-1565), Switzerland is confirmed as a former breeding area of Northern Bald Ibises.
The future flight route of Shorty can be followed in real-time using the free App "Animal Tracker". Further information and links can be found on this website via "Live Tracking App".
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