Record number of cranes have crossed Switzerland

Record number of cranes have crossed Switzerland Keystone-SDA

Around 800 cranes have travelled over Switzerland. According to the Swiss Ornithological Institute in Sempach, never before have so many cranes been counted at once in this country.

The start of this year’s bird migration season is therefore looking promising. Several very large flocks of cranes have already been observed, the Swiss Ornithological Institute (SOI) wrote on Tuesday. Record numbers of migrating cranes have also been reported in neighbouring Bavaria. The migration season for cranes has only just begun.

With their loud, trumpeting calls, they are very conspicuous when they fly south in the typical ‘V’ formation. Cranes are known for their traditional migration routes, according to the SOI. The westernmost migration route leads from Scandinavia and north-eastern Europe in a very narrow corridor to the south-west and ends in Spain. Another route leads from Finland via Hungary and Italy to North Africa. This means that Switzerland is not actually directly on a “crane flyway”. This makes the current spectacle over the Swiss sky all the more remarkable.

Adapted from German by DeepL/ac

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