Spring migration of cranes is underway
Many cranes already returned to Germany, and these mostly belong to the Central European breeding population.
According to data from the bird observation portal ornitho.de and recent sightings of color-marked cranes, during the first big migratory wave mostly cranes of the native breeding population returned. In northern and eastern parts of Germany big flocks are rarely reported at the moment (see map). But most reports in the regions already belong to crane pairs near their breeding territories.
Scandinavian cranes still mostly stay in their wintering areas und migrate through Germany during March. These differences in timing can be explained by current weather conditions in the breeding areas in Scandinavia, as they are still covered by snow and ice at that time of the year.