Winter-hardy cranes

Despite the cold and snow, many cranes are still staying in Germany. This is also reflected in the map generated by ornitho (data: 3–7 January 2026 (12 noon)). Freezing waters and frozen ground prompted many cranes throughout Germany to flee the winter around Christmas. Now, numerous birds have left northern France and moved further south. For example, in Arjuzanx (100 kilometres south of Bordeaux), there were around 8,100 lucky birds on 8 December 2025, and 16,425 on 5 January 2026!

Kranichschutz Deutschland and ornitho.de have enjoyed a lively partnership since 2012. In order to obtain an even more complete picture of crane migration, we would like to ask you to report your crane sightings on ornitho.de as well!

Illustration © ornitho/Kranichschutz Deutschland

Photo © Dr Günter Nowald