Thousands cranes They are postponing their migration to Spain this year These birds, which have been staying in different parts of Central Europe in recent weeks, would under normal circumstances have already reached different parts of several countries, such as Aragon, to spend the winter.
José Antonio Román, national crane census coordinator and one of Spain’s greatest experts, as well as the author of the book ‘Common Crane’, told Efe: 191,000 cranes are currently deployed in Hortobágy National Park in Hungary.It is here that the bulk of the cranes, which then fly to Europe and Africa via different migration routes, are currently concentrated.
This adds at least to the numerous cranes 81,900 remained in Germany, about 8,000 in Poland and at least 32,000 in northwestern France.
Román noted that perhaps successive storms affecting Spain and much of Europe delayed migration processes, something that had “never happened before” until this year.
Food and nice weather
The expert told Efe that there were cranes at these points. They have plenty of food and good weatherThis may also have contributed to their delay in their final journey to the Iberian Peninsula.
He stated that in recent days, some have started to enter via Hungary and a few via Central Europe.
He noted that some arrived in Spain in mid-September, and that the arrival of the first arrivals in greater numbers did not occur until almost mid-October, but still, “There are very few birds compared to other years.”
“We may now have just over 5,000 in Spain, whereas under normal conditions we were already talking about more than 20,000.”
“We may now have just over 5,000 in Spain, whereas under normal circumstances we were already talking about more than 20,000.”
Roman explained this This delay in the arrival of the cranes is an extraordinary situation that has not been observed so far.Because normally at this time of year significant numbers of specimens fly over large areas of the country.
Currently, the presence of cranes is recorded in only 17 Spanish provinces, while last year their presence was also recorded in more than 30 provinces.
Román reminded that in the last census held in Spain, the wintering population was 190 thousand 743 people.
Extremadura, the community with the most cranes
Extremadura then concentrated most of its wintering cranes in Spain. Reaching 82,969 species, Castilla-La Mancha became the second community chosen by cranes to spend the winter with 38,472 species, while Aragon became the third most important region for cranes to winter with 32,409 species.
Another of the regions hosting the highest number of specimens on its territory was Andalusia, where 21,898 specimens were counted, while Navarra and Castilla y León counted 7,645 and 7,231 respectively.
Madrid with 42 specimens, Catalonia with 38 specimens, La Rioja with 31 specimens, the Valencian Community with 16 specimens and the Balearic Islands with 2 specimens complete the total data on the wintering crane population.
Common crane makes a fascinating journey every year They move from the north to the south of Europe, passing through Germany and France in October and November, before returning to their breeding grounds between mid-February and March.
These birds can travel more than 4,000 kilometers, sometimes flying at an altitude of more than 9,000 meters above sea level.