Meet Mossy and Lumi in late July, we put a GPS tag on each of these
two juvenile Lesser Kestrels to gather important information
about threats to the species and also learn more about their behavior.
And we were in for a hell of a surprise when the results came in because Mossy,
the bird named after us, did something very unusual
that to our knowledge, has never before been recorded,
which has baffled experts and prompted us to ask some really interesting questions.
In today's video, I'd like to tell you more about the elegant lesser kestrel.
Why we're the first organization to GPS tag juveniles,
and of course, the mind blowing discovery that got us all in a flap here
at Mossy Earth.
But first, for those unfamiliar with the feathery protagonist
in this story, the Lesser Kestrel, Falco naumanni, is a fascinating species,
epitomized for its distinctive ability to hover when hunting.
And unlike most birds of prey, this small falcon is a gregarious creature, forming
large groups, both during migration and when foraging, and are accustomed
to roosting in urban areas alongside many other bird species.
Lesser kestrels measure about 30 centimeters
in length and have a wingspan of around 70 centimeters.
They are skilled insect hunters favouring grasshoppers, crickets and beetles.
But they'll also feed on small rodents and reptiles, which is why
over the centuries, they became a friend of the farmer
regulating an abundance of species that cause damage to crops.
They can even be seen hunting around, combine harvesters and grass fires,
catching small invertebrates and vertebrates,
escaping the smoke and flames, which must be a sight to behold.
Lesser kestrels, a found
mostly in open areas such as semi-desert and arable lowland areas.
The only places they do not favor
are dense forests, vast treeless wetlands and mountains.
Something to consider when we later reveal our findings
in the second half of the 20th century, the species went from one of the most
abundant birds of prey in Europe to one of the least.
Mostly due to the intensification of agriculture and urban sprawl,
reducing their natural hunting grounds in open areas.
But thanks to some excellent reintroduction projects, extinction
was avoided.
And as its habitat improved and the population grew,
it became listed as a species of least concern.
This doesn't mean our efforts to help this species should stop.
There are still a lot more that can be done to help them thrive.
Currently, there are estimated to number around 100,000 pairs worldwide and can be
found breeding from the Mediterranean through to Central Asia.
The majority head to Africa for the winter,
but have also been recorded wintering in India, Pakistan and even Iraq.
We're back in Spain,
this time at Laguna Fuente de Piedra, Andalusia’s the largest lake.
It's also home to one of the largest populations of flamingos in Europe,
as well as being a wintering passage for so many bird species.
But more importantly, it's the location of our lesser kestrel tagging project.
We've teamed up with DEMA.
A fantastic NGO over the last 30 years have been a leading force
in lesser kestrel conservation throughout Europe, led by Pepe Antolín
and Catarina Machado
they're currently carrying out an ambitious project to translocate
170 nestlings over a period of four years here to this nature reserve
to consolidate the breeding colony and improve the birds conservation
status in Spain, but to ensure the long term success
of such projects, tagging and monitoring is key.
Once the nestlings fledge, what happens to them
and where they go before returning a year later is a virtual unknown.
And it's these mysteries that we'd like to help solve by tagging
four lesser kestrels, costing just over €10,000.
This will cover two part time project staff Marta and Lucia
to monitor the project and of course, the GPS tags themselves.
What makes this project
all the more exciting is that we're the first entity that we know of to
tag lesser kestrel juveniles, where there is no data previously recorded
conservation organizations typically avoid tagging juveniles,
but we see this as an opportunity to explore.
Tagging will help identify important areas for the birds during
and after the breeding season in Spain, migratory routes to Africa
and important wintering areas once they are there, as well as causes
of mortality, which could include pesticide or rodent poisoning,
human persecution and the destruction or collapse of old buildings
which it often uses to nest in the evidence
gathered, will be extremely useful in designing new strategies
and policies aiming to better protect the lesser kestrel from such threats.
But what's really fascinating is that GPS tagging projects often unearth
unexpected and game changing discoveries never imagined
by those behind the project.
I'll let Catarina give a prime example.
Some years ago and Iberian Imperial Eagle tagged in Spain lead us to a remote area
of Northern Africa where on the arrival searching for the eagle,
we serendipitously stumble across a faulty electric line
where its pylons were surrounded by an unimaginable number
of dead birds of prey from great eagles to falcons.
This discovery allowed on one hand to better understand
the dispersion area of a species as the Iberian Imperial Eagle
that until then was not believed to cross to straight to Africa.
And on the other hand, to identify a tremendous mortality
hotspot and share that information with the entities that could correct them.
Back to the birds.
This year we were only able to tag two of the four birds as intended,
which we named Mossy short for Mossy Earth and Lumi, a diminutive of Inlumi,
a B2B partner and co-founder for this project.
The birds were collected from a primillar close to the lake.
This is a 6 to 7 meter tall, purpose built breeding tower
for lesser kestrels, which has been the home for Mossy, Lumi
and the other translocated lesser kestrels from when they were around 18 to 21 days
old, an age where the nestlings can already thermoregulate and tear up food.
Now, at around six weeks and weighing more than 150 grams.
They're strong enough to receive the GPS loggers first,
a leather hood is put over their heads to calm them before attaching the loggers.
These loggers are noninvasive, weighing just five grams
and a secured like a backpack with Teflon ribbons tied across the bird's breast,
which will naturally release themselves from the birds within about 2 to 3 years.
Once fitted out,
they're put back in the safety and stress free environment of the primillar,
where shortly after they'll embark on their migratory adventure.
At Mossy Earth,
we've actually carried out multiple GPS tagging projects in the past
from Griffin vultures in Portugal and red kites in Spain to Atlantic salmon
in the Scottish Highlands and reintroduced bison in southern Andalusia.
If you’d would like to find out more about these projects,
as well as our wide variety of other rewilding and reforestation
projects, head over to our website, mossy.earth But for now, let's
finally find out what happened to Mossy and Lumi after they fledged the nest.
So within just two weeks of tagging Young, Mossy and Lumi,
we were flabbergasted by the results we found.
While Lumi took rather
predictable flights around the surrounding areas of Andalusia and Huelva.
Mossy threw caution to the wind and headed directly for the Pyrenees Mountains,
where for the last six weeks he has been crossing back and forth
over the mountains between France and Spain.
Catarina, who has worked with birds of prey
for over 20 years, was sure there had been a problem with Mossy Logger
when she first saw his trajectory heading straight for the mega metropolis
of Madrid, but was amazed when she saw him uncharacteristically
hunting in the mountains.
It was amazing to follow Mossy’s 1000 kilometers flight
north directly to the Pyrenees.
Some previously tagged adult lesser
kestrels have been seen traveling north in pre-migratory movements.
However, there is not much data on juveniles demonstrating this, nor
spending six weeks in the mountains by this time of the year.
We would expected to see him already
flying south, heading the wintering areas in Africa.
Until when will he stay in the north? Will he cross the strait?
Will he return to the expected breeding area next season, if not, where else?
This is a real mystery.
The data provided by the loggers will be shared with Doñana
Biological Station, a leading investigation center
that will help us get the information essential to focus the conservation
efforts and avoid the lesser kestrels disappearance.
So what's your hypothesis on Mossy's flight to the Pyrenees?
We'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below now.
Was it because of climatic changes or the oppressive heat
waves we've been experiencing in Europe this summer?
Was it a sibling fallout between Mossy and Lumi?
Or perhaps
this is just normal behavior by juveniles, yet nobody's attacked them in the past.
And what's next for Mossy and Lumi?
Well, we'll be putting regular updates on our project page.
The link is in the description below.
To wrap up, I'd like to say a special
thank you to our members as well as our long time
B2B partners in Lumi for supporting this project.
Now, if you've not yet become a member
but found this project exciting and worth supporting, then be sure
to head over to mossy.earth and become a member today.
Until next time.
Cheers.