Kapa wrote:This morning I was listening to a radio interview with a German stork expert. It was rather about first storks preparing for the return to the winter habitats but beside that the expert also pointed out, that there is a growing rate of returning storks throughout Germany.
I then did a quick research on the internet and found the information, that in southern Germany only 10 out of 100 storks return, 90 get lost during migration.
(More information in German).
So what are the reasons for this?
- hunting
- pesticides
- giving up of agriculture esp. ranching
- drainage
- river development
- overhead lines and power poles (responsible for 70% of all accidents)
- loss of resting ground along the migration routes
- decrease of diet (due to change in soil conditions and planned elimination of mice and locusts by pesticides)
- weather conditions (e.g. droughts) in the winter and summer habitats which can restrict food supply
- ...
I am totally aware that this list might not be complete and maybe it can not be transfered to ospreys.
Yet it shows, how important it is to have a global view on the problems in order to protect migrating birds.
And it allows to concretely plan improvements. So if you know the migrating routes you can assure food supply by offering protected areas. Also you can improve power poles and lines as it has to be done in Germany (we talked about that lately). Farmers can helb by mowing and prohibition in the use of pesticides can improve the situation for migrating birds.
Little articles in German:
http://www.swr.de/swr1/rp/programm/akti ... index.html
http://www.kreiszeitung.de/nachrichten/ ... 19037.html
http://www.swr.de/swr1/rp/programm/akti ... index.html
Thanks for the information Kapa.
I think this report can be used for each migrating bird.
I follow in our contry the organisations that protect birds (all kind of birds) and they have unfortunattely the same conclusions.
For example apus apus, barn-swalows, Vanellus vanellus and Limosa-limosa all less than ever (the barn swalows I see for myself, this year we only have 2 breeding pears, while a view years ago we had about 8 or 9 pairs)
Sorry I don't now the English names for the other ones.
But now I wonder even more what a transmitter will ad/change to all that?
Will the hunting stop? or the use of pesticide? or will powerpoles taking away?
As long as governments finds economy more importend than ecology nothing will change!
That was (among other things) what I was trying to explaine, we, human beeings are quilty of the return (or not) of the birds (exept extreme weather offcause) and I don't believe a transmitter will give birds a better chance tó return only we KNOW than (as we find them dead) that they are dead and only because of the transmitter we know WHERE they are found dead.
So, I still believe a change of our attitude is more importent than put a transmitter on a birds back.
Someone may call that emotional or over-sensitive well, maybee it is, but that makes my opinion not wrong, just different and I will (can) not change that in the name of so called sience.
(now I can only hope I did not irritate some people, but if so.....so be it)