This bird species was extinct in Europe. Now it's back, and humans must help it migrate for winter

PATERZELL, Germany (AP) — How do you teach a bird how, and where, to fly?

The distinctive northern bald ibis, hunted essentially to extinction by the 17th century, was revived by breeding and rewilding efforts over the last two decades. But the birds — known for their distinctive black-and-iridescent green plumage, bald red head and long curved beak — don’t instinctively know which direction to fly to migrate without the guidance of wild-born elders. So a team of scientists and conservationists stepped in as foster parents and flight instructors.

“We have to teach them the migration route,” said biologist Johannes Fritz.

The northern bald ibis once soared over North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and much of Europe, including southern Germany's Bavaria. The migratory birds were also considered a delicacy, and the bird, known as the Waldrapp in German, disappeared from Europe, though a few colonies elsewhere survived.

The efforts of Fritz and the Waldrappteam, a conservation and research group based in Austria, brought the Central European population from zero to almost 300 since the start of their project in 2002.

The feat moved the species from a "critically endangered" classification to "endangered" and, Fritz says, is the first attempt to reintroduce a continentally extinct migratory bird species.

But while northern bald ibises still display the natural urge to migrate, they don’t know which direction to fly without the guidance of wild-born elders. The Waldrappteam's early reintroduction attempts were largely unsuccessful because, without teaching the birds the migration route, most disappeared soon after release. Instead of returning to suitable wintering grounds such as Tuscany, Italy, they flew in different directions and ultimately died.

So the Waldrappteam stepped in as foster parents and flight instructors for the Central European population, which was made up of descendants from multiple zoo colonies and released into the wild in the hopes of creating a migratory group. This year marks the 17th journey with human-led migration guides, and the second time they've been forced to pilot a new route to Spain due to climate change.

To prepare them for travel, the chicks are removed from their breeding colonies when they are just a few days old. They are taken to an aviary that's overseen by the foster parents in the hopes of “imprinting” — when the birds will bond with those humans to ultimately trust them along the migration route.

Barbara Steininger, a Waldrapp team foster mother, said she acts like “their bird mom."

“We feed them, we clean them, we clean their nests. We take good care of them and see that they are healthy birds,” she said. "But also we interact with them.”

Steininger and the other foster parents then sit on the back of a microlight aircraft, waving and shouting encouragement through a bullhorn as it flies through the air.

It's a bizarre scene: The aircraft looks like a flying go-kart with a giant fan on the back and a yellow parachute keeping it aloft. Still, three dozen birds follow the contraption, piloted by Fritz, as it sails over alpine meadows and foothills.

Fritz was inspired by “Father Goose” Bill Lishman, a naturalist who taught Canadian geese to fly alongside his ultra-light plane beginning in 1988. He later guided endangered whooping cranes through safe routes and founded the nonprofit “Operation Migration.” Lishman's work prompted the 1996 movie “Fly Away Home” but features a young girl as the geese's “mother.”

Like Lishman, Fritz and his team's efforts have worked. The first bird independently migrated back to Bavaria in 2011 from Tuscany. More have flown the route that's upward of 550 kilometers (342 miles) each year, and the team hopes the Central European population will be more than 350 birds by 2028 and become self-sustaining.

But the effects of climate change mean the Waldrapp are migrating later in the season now, which forces them to cross the Alps in colder, more dangerous weather — without the aid of warm currents of air, known as thermals, that rise upward and help the birds soar without expending extra energy.

In response, the Waldrappteam piloted a new route in 2023, from Bavaria to Andalusia in southern Spain.

This year, the route is roughly 2,800 kilometers (1,740 miles) — some 300 kilometers (186 miles) longer than last year's path. Earlier this month from an airfield in Paterzell, in upper Bavaria, the team guided 36 birds along one stage through bright blue skies and a tailwind that increased their speed.

The entire journey to Spain could take up to 50 days and end in early October. But Fritz says the effort is bigger than just the northern bald ibises: It’s about paving the way for other threatened migratory species to fly.

Dazio reported from Berlin.

This photo provide by Waldrappteam Conservation & Research shows the migration from Northern Bald Ibis, or the Waldrapp from Seekirchen am Wallersee in Austria to Oasi Laguna di Orbetello in Italy during August and September 2022. (Waldrappteam Conservation & Research via AP)

This photo provide by Waldrappteam Conservation & Research shows the migration from Northern Bald Ibis, or the Waldrapp, supported by foster parents of the birds in a microlight aircraft, waving and shouting encouragement through a bullhorn as it flies through the air from Seekirchen am Wallersee in Austria to Oasi Laguna di Orbetello in Italy during August and September 2022. (Waldrappteam Conservation & Research via AP)

This photo provide by Waldrappteam Conservation & Research shows the migration from Northern Bald Ibis, or the Waldrapp, supported by foster parents of the birds in a microlight aircraft, waving and shouting encouragement through a bullhorn as it flies through the air from Seekirchen am Wallersee in Austria to Oasi Laguna di Orbetello in Italy during August and September 2022. (Waldrappteam Conservation & Research)

This photo provide by Waldrappteam Conservation & Research shows the migration from Northern Bald Ibis, or the Waldrapp, supported by foster parents of the birds in a microlight aircraft, waving and shouting encouragement through a bullhorn as it flies through the air from Seekirchen am Wallersee in Austria to Oasi Laguna di Orbetello in Italy during August and September 2022. (Waldrappteam Conservation & Research via AP)

This photo provide by Waldrappteam Conservation & Research shows the migration from Northern Bald Ibis, or the Waldrapp, supported by foster parents of the birds in a microlight aircraft, waving and shouting encouragement through a bullhorn as it flies through the air from Seekirchen am Wallersee in Austria to Oasi Laguna di Orbetello in Italy during August and September 2022. (Waldrappteam Conservation & Research via AP)

This photo provide by Waldrappteam Conservation & Research shows the migration from Northern Bald Ibis, or the Waldrapp from Seekirchen am Wallersee in Austria to Oasi Laguna di Orbetello in Italy during August and September 2022. (Waldrappteam Conservation & Research via AP)

This photo provide by Waldrappteam Conservation & Research shows the migration from Northern Bald Ibis, or the Waldrapp, supported by foster parents of the birds in a microlight aircraft, waving and shouting encouragement through a bullhorn as it flies through the air from Seekirchen am Wallersee in Austria to Oasi Laguna di Orbetello in Italy during August and September 2022. (Waldrappteam Conservation & Research via AP)

This photo provide by Waldrappteam Conservation & Research shows the migration from Northern Bald Ibis, or the Waldrapp, supported by foster parents of the birds in a microlight aircraft, waving and shouting encouragement through a bullhorn as it flies through the air from Seekirchen am Wallersee in Austria to Oasi Laguna di Orbetello in Italy during August and September 2022. (Waldrappteam Conservation & Research via AP)

This photo provide by Waldrappteam Conservation & Research shows the migration from Northern Bald Ibis, or the Waldrapp from Seekirchen am Wallersee in Austria to Oasi Laguna di Orbetello in Italy during August and September 2022. (Waldrappteam Conservation & Research via AP)

This photo provide by Waldrappteam Conservation & Research shows the migration from Northern Bald Ibis, or the Waldrapp, supported by foster parents of the birds in a microlight aircraft, waving and shouting encouragement through a bullhorn as it flies through the air from Seekirchen am Wallersee in Austria to Oasi Laguna di Orbetello in Italy during August and September 2022. (Waldrappteam Conservation & Research via AP)

This photo provide by Waldrappteam Conservation & Research shows the migration from Northern Bald Ibis, or the Waldrapp from Seekirchen am Wallersee in Austria to Oasi Laguna di Orbetello in Italy during August and September 2022. (Waldrappteam Conservation & Research via AP)

BANGKOK (AP) — Germany sailed two warships through the Taiwan Strait on Friday in its first transit of the disputed waters in more than two decades, as Berlin seeks to increase its defense engagement in the Asia-Pacific region.

China claims the self-governing democratic island of Taiwan as its own, and views such transits as provocative actions.

To challenge China's claims, the United States and allies including Australia, Canada, Britain and France, have regularly conducted “freedom of navigation” operations there, sailing through the strait to emphasize that it is international waters.

In its last naval deployment to the region in 2021-22, Germany had sought to avoid confrontation with China and attempted a diplomatic balancing act, seeking a port call in China, which Beijing denied, and by not sailing through the Taiwan Strait.

The government was widely criticized for this approach, and on this deployment to the Indo-Pacific, leaders decided to sail through the strait en route from South Korea to the Philippines in a widely-telegraphed move.

“The signal is a very simple one, which we have always maintained and I have always maintained,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told reporters in Berlin. “International waters are international waters.”

Taiwan's Defense Ministry confirmed in a post on X that the frigate Baden-Wuerttemberg and support ship Frankfurt am Main had transited through the strait from north to south, adding that throughout the sail "the situation remained normal."

China, which often reacts sharply to American warships transiting the strait, was somewhat muted in its response.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters that for Beijing, “the Taiwan issue is not an issue of freedom of navigation, but an issue related to China's sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

She said that while China respects the navigation rights of all countries, “we firmly oppose provocations endangering China’s sovereignty and security in the name of freedom of navigation.”

The European Union three years ago embarked on a new strategy for the Asia-Pacific aimed at boosting economic, political and defense ties. Part of that has been focused on improving maritime security and ensuring safe passage through sea lanes.

It comes at a time when China is becoming increasingly assertive in pushing its maritime claims in the region, including on virtually the entire South China Sea and on Taiwan.

China maintains that Taiwan is part of its territory, and President Xi Jinping has not ruled out taking it by force.

China sends warplanes and warships near Taiwan on a near-daily basis in an attempt to intimidate its citizens and degrade the island’s defenses.

In response, Taiwan has extended the period of national military service to one year, building its own submarines and importing sophisticated new equipment from the U.S.

The vast majority of Taiwanese favor the current status of their island, which separated from mainland China amid civil war in 1949.

FILE - A Taiwan national flag flutters near the Taipei 101 building at the National Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall in Taipei, Taiwan, on May 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying, File)