The black-tailed godwit chicks raised this spring at Vogelpark Avifauna have joined wild birds of their own kind. Using GPS transmitters, we observed how the chicks found each other in the wet meadows of Súdwest-Fryslân and formed a group. Let’s follow the joint journey of two chicks with very different beginnings: one grew up in the wild, while the other was raised in a controlled environment.

Black-tailed godwit W2PPPC hatched at Avifauna on 11 May and was released on 13 June in the Munnikeburenpolder. Her later travel companion, W1WWCW, was ringed as a fully fledged chick on 31 May in the Workummerwaard. The two birds met at a pool near Jutrijp, where they spent the night together with hundreds of other young black-tailed godwits. They were lucky. Thanks to an abundance of mice and drought, Súdwest-Fryslân was a particularly suitable place for black-tailed godwits last summer. To prevent damage to crops, farmers began using pumps across the fields from the end of June, moving them from one plot to the next. This was a boon for the godwits, as the pools and naturally flooded areas had already dried up following an extremely dry spring. The moist soils of the artificially flooded fields nevertheless contained plenty of worms and leatherjackets. There was also less threat from predators, as they were primarily occupied with the abundance of mice.

Migrating south together
Clearly well fed, W1WWCW and W2PPPC began their first southward migration together on 27 July. That evening, they were still flying over the IJsselmeer. The following day, around midday, they crossed the Pyrenees together at an altitude of 5,100 metres above sea level. On 29 July, at 4 a.m., they passed over the Strait of Gibraltar. In Morocco, the GPS signal from the wild chick disappeared — W1WWCW may have lost its GPS transmitter along the way. In the middle of the night on 31 July, W2PPPC reached the Senegal Delta, where she is expected to remain at least until next year.

An increasingly complete picture
Equipping black-tailed godwit chicks with transmitters is part of a new research project by BirdEyes. In this way, scientists are gathering information about the areas that are attractive to young black-tailed godwits after they fledge. This is helping to build an increasingly complete picture of the lives of young black-tailed godwits and the factors that influence them. To carry out this five-year research project, BirdEyes is working closely with the University of Groningen, the University of Amsterdam, Vogelpark Avifauna, Bureau Altenburg & Wymenga Ecological Research, and the Bond Friese VogelWachten. Together with a comprehensive package of measures from the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature (LVVN), the findings will be used to address the decline of the Dutch black-tailed godwit population.

Godwits chicks in Súdwest-Fryslân. Photos by Jan van de Kam.