Bird migration changes due to milder temperatures

Due to increasingly milder temperatures, bird migration has changed significantly in recent decades. “Some species migrate later, cover shorter distances or increasingly stay here,” says Simon Thorn from the State Bird Protection Observatory in Giessen, referring to the current bird migration season.

As an example, he cited the little blackcap, which is increasingly overwintering here. The white storks are also no longer long-distance travelers, drifting as far as Africa in a quiet glider as they once did - and it's over in France or Spain. The spectacular migration of cranes, which also travel across Hesse in large flocks, starts at the end of September; the main travel time for them is October.