Conservationists Are Flying Microlites To Teach Birds How To Migrate
1 min read
Summary
The conservationists trying to reintroduce the northern bald ibis to central Europe are facing a problem because when the birds died out of Europe, their traditional knowledge of migration routes was lost, so new generations need to be taught where to go.
This requires training the birds on their migration routes, which is being achieved through microlite aircraft, as birds are trained to follow the microlite, and once they learn the route they can repeat it on their own in the future.
The project has been successful over the years since its inception in the early 2000s, and the hope is that it will continue until the flock is self-sustaining.
Older birds that know the route can pass on their knowledge to younger generations, just as they learned from the microlite pilots when they were young.
This is not exactly how nature intended things to be, but it is a necessary workaround to overcome the birds’ lack of knowledge about migration routes.
