Cranes Seen More Frequently Over Austria Again

"For about 15 years, we have observed a significant increase in cranes migrating over Austria," says Norbert Teufelbauer from BirdLife Austria: "They follow the Baltic-Hungarian migration route towards Southwestern Europe."

BirdLife Austria Launches Project to Observe Cranes

To research the striking migration behavior of these large birds more precisely, BirdLife Austria continues the citizen science reporting campaign this year and invites all interested parties to participate. Observations of crane migration can now be entered via the reporting platform, and uploading photos is also possible. From a greater distance, cranes could be mistaken for wild geese, cormorants, or grey herons.

Cranes are significantly larger than cormorants and wild geese like the common greylag goose here. Their long legs are particularly striking, which, unlike geese and cormorants, are visible extending beyond the tail feathers in flight. Cranes also have very long feathers at the wingtips, which, similar to eagles or vultures, are spread wide and resemble "fingers." Their wings appear angular, while those of geese and cormorants are more pointed. The grey heron is noticeable for its S-shaped retracted neck, whereas cranes fly with a stretched neck. They can also be distinguished by their calls: The calls of cranes are elongated and resemble a high, rolling trumpet. Geese, on the other hand, make chattering, quacking (greylag goose), squeaking (white-fronted goose) sounds, or fly almost silently (bean goose). Cormorants do not make calls in flight. More information and detailed bird portraits can be found here.

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