Relocation to Seekirchen am Wallersee
Newsletter 16/05/2021
On May 9th, the 32 Northern Bald Ibis chicks and their two foster mothers moved from Vienna Zoo to the training camp at the Ackerl family in Seekirchen am Wallersee in the region of Salzburg. Animals and humans have quickly made themselves at home there. Now an exciting time begins, the birds are gradually fledging, and the flight training will soon begin.
The farm of the Ackerl family has a long history in our project. Our training camp was already located there in 2015 and 2016. After the birds were released, they were assigned to the two breeding colonies Burghausen and Kuchl. In 2019, a wind tunnel was built in the empty barn building as part of an FWF research project (P 30620-BBL) and in cooperation with the FH Joanneum in Graz. In 2019/2020, we were able to successfully take data with four trained ibises. In the meantime, the wind tunnel is also temporarily rented by an Austrian film team to shoot with various migratory bird species.
The new training camp in Seekirchen was initially only "Plan B" for 2021. It became topical at short notice because the actual destination, a training camp at Binningen airfield in Baden-Württemberg, seemed too costly and risky due to the ongoing COVID-19 restrictions. It is a good alternative that makes sense for the species conservation project. The birds are to be assigned to the Kuchl and Burghausen colonies after release. We hope to continue the establishment of the Überlingen colony in Baden-Württemberg in 2022.
At the time, the breeding colony in Überlingen is developing very promisingly. So far this year, 13 ibises have returned from Tuscany to Überlingen, 9 of which are sexually mature. In one nest the eggs are already being incubated, three more breeding pairs are in preparation. In Burghausen and Kuchl, too, the season continues well, with a total of 10 pairs breeding in the rock niches on the Georgenberg and on the weir wall of Burghausen Castle. Four chicks have already hatched in Burghausen and another 38 eggs are being incubated.
Photo: Foster mothers Helena Wehner and Katharina Huchler (from left) with the first fledged ibises in Seekirchen am Wallersee.
