Storks refine migratory routes through experiential learning

As storks grow older, they choose faster and more direct migration routes. This suggests that storks are learning by experience to perfect these routes.

“We were able to track these animals and get detailed information about when and where they go,” he says. Ellen Aikens at the University of Wyoming. “But we wanted to learn more about how migration is refined and developed over the lifespan of storks.”

Stork (ciconia) Breeds mainly in Europe, but flies to central or southern Africa during the winter. From 2013 to 2020, Aikens and his colleagues captured 258 young storks at five breeding sites in Germany and Austria. They attached tags to them that tracked their location before releasing them.

In total, the team was able to record 301 migration events from 40 storks, with all storks completing at least two consecutive migrations.

After analyzing the data, the researchers found that young birds tend to spend more time exploring new places and trying different trails each year.

“The reason behind this is that during early childhood they collect information to better understand their environment,” Aikens said. “Because they haven’t yet bred, they have less time pressure to move into the territory they need to breed or build nests.”

However, as the storks grew, their paths gradually became straighter and they began to fly much faster in order to reach their destination faster.

“This suggests that they are progressively upgrading their routes to shorter and more direct ones, but this comes at the cost of requiring energetically more expensive transitions. ,” Aikens said. She says this change occurred because, as storks mature, they need to compete with other storks for quality nesting sites in order to be successful in breeding.

“Storks learn the same way we learn,” Aikens says. “We should appreciate more how wise and how wonderful it is that they are able to complete these journeys successfully and do better over the years.”