White storks
White storks (Ciconia ciconia) are long-distance migrants found in Europe, Africa, and southwest Asia. Scientists in Germany have been studying the movements of white storks for more than 100 years, since the Vogelwarte Rossitten began ringing wild white storks in 1906. Today around 300,000 white storks have been ringed, and about 10 percent of these birds are seen again, resulting in an extensive long-term record of their migration patterns.
Since 1991, researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology have followed the migration of white storks equipped with satellite tracking tags. These tags allow researchers to follow the movements of individual birds much more accurately. The migration routes of many of the tracked storks can be seen on Movebank.
Following the animals using satellite tracking as well as with ringing programs has allowed scientists to better understand the birds' migration routes. The long-term monitoring of these movements is critical to understanding how population movements change in response to environmental change and to implementing successful conservation programs.
