Date: May 24, 2018
Source: Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
For little Louis, it is the most
exciting day of his life: just six or seven weeks ago, the young stork came
into the world on a birch tree in Radolfzell on Lake Constance. Up to this day
in June 2014, he has only known his parents and three siblings. But suddenly
strange beings have appeared at the nest and are holding the four small white
storks captive. They are Andrea Flack and Wolfgang Fiedler of the Max Planck
Institute for Ornithology and the University of Konstanz. In the coming years,
the scientists will learn from Louis and other young storks that, on their
migrations south, storks follow other storks who are particularly good at
exploiting thermals, allowing them to flap their wings as little as possible as
they fly. The efficient fliers migrate to West Africa, while the others spend
the winter in southern Europe. From their data, the researchers can tell which
storks will fly where just ten minutes after the birds take off.
For days, Andrea Flack and
Wolfgang Fiedler have been visiting storks' nests on the western shore of Lake
Constance. The aerial ladder of the fire brigade raises them to the stork nests
at lofty heights so that they can strap small tracking devices onto the backs
of the nestlings. The aim is to follow Louis and 60 other young storks on their
migration. The instruments, which weigh less than 60 grams, record the GPS
coordinates of the birds' location. They also measure the animals' movements
using accelometers. This allows the researchers to determine whether and, if
so, how the birds are moving.
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