Northern Bald Ibis Project

Aim of this project is teaching a group of hermit ibis, raised by humans, to find the migratory route South.
It was established that these birds, born in captivity for generations, while still maintaining a clearly inborn instinct to migrate, are unable to identify the route south where the species migrate for the winter.

Animals in the wild are taught the correct route to follow by their parents. To achieve the same result with hand reared birds the Konrad Lorenz Institute set up a special training program which will have the birds following in flight their adoptive mothers on board two microlights.

Parallel to the migration project run further studies on the species, particularly concerning the ecology of its diet, the use of the habitat, the constancy of its migratory tradition, its interaction with man and other animal species, its defence strategy, its demographic and reproductive success rate.