As of: March 14, 2024, 11:37 a.m
By: Thomas Steinhardt
Comments
Press
Split
The curlew on the former Fursty site.
© Private
The curlew has returned from its winter quarters to the former Fursty site near Maisach.
It's hard to imagine: the animal uses the old runway to land.
Fürstenfeldbruck/Maisach -
Great joy for the State Association for Bird Protection (LBV): For the third year in a row, the meadow breeder, which is threatened with extinction in Bavaria, has returned to the disused military site.
With it comes the hope that the rare species will once again provide offspring in the extensive areas there.
The LBV Fürstenfeldbruck expects a total of around four breeding pairs this spring, according to a statement on Thursday.
The exciting question also arises as to whether a young bird of the faithful bird species from the year before last will return to the place where it grew up.
Bavaria-wide sensation
The curlew at the air base is a Bavaria-wide conservation sensation, according to the LBV.
Together with the Ampermoos, it is one of only two areas in the entire Free State where the curlew has returned after disappearing as a breeding bird.
The species-rich meadows of the Natura 2000 protected area and the adjacent tree-free areas on the former military site provide the bird, which is up to 60 centimeters tall with the characteristically curved beak, an ideal breeding environment.
He likes to have a clear all-round view so that he can recognize predators such as foxes or martens in good time, explains the LBV.
Four wins
“The curlew represents the disappearance of species-rich, extensive meadows.
Where there used to be tens of thousands of curlews, today we still have around 500 breeding pairs throughout Bavaria, says Simon Weigl, branch manager and species protection expert at LBV Fürstenfeldbruck.
This makes the breeding activity at the air base all the more valuable, “which we have been able to observe there for two years”.
Weigl is hoping for at least four breeding pairs again.
“Perhaps there will be one more, because from 2022 to 2023 the number had already increased from the original three to four.”
Among them could be a former air base chick from 2022: At the age of two, the curlew becomes sexually mature and, statistically speaking, one in two returns to the breeding site where it was hatched.
“Unfortunately, you cannot visually distinguish them from the adult birds.
“That’s why we can only assume whether one of the returnees is a real ‘aviation nurseryman’,” says Weigl with a wink.
Protection via satellite
The only reliable data available worldwide on the behavior of young curlews is collected by the LBV's curlew telemetry project, which expires at the end of 2024.
Until then, tagged young birds that come from the breeding areas of Königsauer Moos, Regentalaue, Altmühltal, Donaumoos and Donautal will provide amazing insights into the migratory and breeding behavior of the threatened meadow breeders.
These also allowed conclusions to be drawn about the greatest threats to the rare birds.
The data collected will serve to improve long-term protection measures for the curlew and to secure its population.
My news
2 hours ago
Test alarm on all channels - the sirens are sounding here
1 hour ago
Golf club: change in gastronomy
1 hour ago
If the cell phone accidentally calls for help: Read the blessing and curse of the e-call
Ceiling problem in middle school solved with simple adhesive tape read
“I’m sad to death”: Inflation forces shop owner to give up reading
1 hour ago
Blue light ticker for the Fürstenfeldbruck region: lousy rip-off scams
Scarce night areas
A surprising result from the project: The Bavarian curlews spend almost all of their winters in Spain and Portugal and thus migrate furthest south of all European curlews, explains the LBV.
The most important finding from the project for local nature conservation is that good night areas in Bavaria are in absolute short supply.
Adult curlews would have to fly up to 20 kilometers to their night quarters.
Flooded areas where predators are reluctant to penetrate are ideal, ideally with a good all-round view.
However, chicks cannot leave the breeding area at night, so the curlew looks for areas that approximate its need for protection.
That could also be strange, according to the LBV: At the air base this is the concrete slab of the Driving Academy, at Munich Airport it is the turning loops of the aircraft.
Also interesting:
The Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base on the way to the civilian future
You can find even more current news from the Fürstenfeldbruck district at Merkur.de/Fürstenfeldbruck.