Dispersal of juvenile and subadult German birds:
what do they do during their immature period?
Günter Nowald et al.
Abstract. With the help of a light aircraft we made a preliminary search of immature birds over Mecklemburg-Vorpommern, northern Germany. For the first time in Europe, during the spring 2000 several birds were located up to 90 kilometers away from their natal areas, but most of them
surprisingly close to them. The behaviour of Common Cranes during this time of their life cycle is still a challenge for crane watchers, considering the scarcity of observations of these colour-banded and radio-marked individuals, in spite of the effort recently invested in field work. Aerial location did
open a new scenery for general studies as well as for applied research to conservation.
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Young cranes follow their parents to their wintering areas in southern Europe and north Africa. The families will brake there at the end of the winter. When these juvenile cranes come back to
their natal areas, at the end of their first spring migration as already emancipated birds, they begin the less known phase of their life cycles. Nothing is known on their movements, sociality and behaviour until they get stablished as breeding adults. |
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Picture J.A. Alonso |
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