Thousands of cranes cross Tyrol in unusual overnight flight

Thousands of cranes flew over the Inn Valley on Saturday evening and during the night into Sunday, in an unusually large passage over Tyrol, ORF reported. Their loud calls attracted attention, and bird expert Katharina Bergmüller of BirdLife said she had never seen so many cranes fly over the region.

Cranes have been migrating over Austria in larger numbers only for about a decade, Bergmüller said. Their calls are contact calls that help the birds stay together and keep track of one another.

The birds appeared disoriented, first flying from east to west before turning back east. Bergmüller said cloud cover may have made it difficult for them to navigate in the mountains. Most birds try to go around the Alps, she said.

Cranes do not usually breed in Austria, although breeding has been recorded in the east in recent years, which Bergmüller described as a new development.