Ready for the autumn migration
Newsletter 29/09/2015
20 Northern Bald Ibises are currently staying in Salzburg, the majority of them- like last year - near the airport. All birds carry GPS transmitters. During the last few days our Field Manager Daniela Trobe has caught the birds if necessary to recharge the batteries of the transmitters. Now all birds are prepared for their departure to Italy.
Already in August, the birds have left their breeding areas in Burghausen and Kuchl respectively. Like last year, all birds from both breeding areas built one large group. Together, they searched the surroundings of Kuchl for food. A few days ago, they moved to the airport of Salzburg.
Whilst our birds will probably stay in Austria for some more time, a young Red kite (Milvus milvus) has already travelled from eastern Austria to Italy, as our colleague Rainer Raab reports.
The Engineering Department for Biology by Mag. Dr. Rainer Raab, in collaboration with DI Thomas Zuna-Kratky and others, is carrying out a “Red kite Telemetric Study” since August 28th 2014, on behalf of seven wind power operators, in the March-Thaya region.
Between May and June 2015, 3 adult and 9 young Red kites were tagged for the first time in Austria. During the last few weeks, the first four young birds left the March-Thaya region and flew south.
After a few days of stay in Croatia, on September 26th, one of them flew from Croatia across the Adriatic Sea to Italy. The next day the bird crossed the mainland, flew to Giglio, turned back and spent the night close to the wintering area of the Northern Bald Ibises in Orbetello. It then continued its flight to the south along the coast. Last night, the bird already was about 30 km south of Rome.
Thanks to this data it was proven for the first time that Red kites hatched in Austria reside in Italy. Whether the other tagged young birds will fly to Italy too remains to be seen.
According to the Red List, the Red kite is near threatened (NT). The main distribution area of this species is located in Germany. The populations in Austria and Italy are increasing. According to current knowledge, the majority of the central-European Red kites is wintering in southwest Europe, but also in Italy, where 1.630 wintering Red kites were registered in 2006.
We can only hope that Italy will become a wintering area for an increasing number of Northern Bald Ibises and Red Kites and that the country ensures adequate protection for both species. Therefore, a positive and constructive engagement of the Italian hunting associations and hunters is particularly necessary in order to prevent illegal hunting.
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