the Brandenburg ostrich - Landesamt für Umwelt, Gesundheit und ...

Habitat and Biology19Severe winters causegreat loss amongthe bustards – afterthe 1978/89 wintermigration as well ashigh losses amongthe remaining birdsreduced the populationin Germany by45 percent....Flight from hard wintersOnly in winters with heavy snows do the localbirds stray far from their brooding grounds, flyingwestward and sometimes even making an appearancein France. Escaping the winter in this way, ashappened in the winters of 2009/10 and 2010/11after almost a twenty-year break, always resultin losses. In the mild winters before 2009 thebustards remained “at home”. During times ofsnow it is possible to help the bird by clearing rapeseed fields, their preferred winter feeding ground.It is possible that great bustards will be among thelong-term winners of global warming, at least inCentral Europe.Models of Great Bustard and climate data predictthat the bustards could benefit from climatechange in East Germany more than in any otherarea in Central Europe. But what is decisive is thetype of land use under these new climate conditions.The international responsibility of Germanyto protect this species is therefore all the greater.Did you know...Great Bustards arepowerful and indefatigablefliers in spiteof their weight? Whilein Central Europethey primarily live assedentary birds, inRussia they are migratorybirds that migratecirca 1,000 kilometersto their winter quartersin Ukraine.