Ring and transmitter program to solve questions about swan migration

As part of this program, swans are ringed and fitted with GPS / GSM transmitters, both in Russian breeding grounds and in Belgian wintering grounds.

The data thus produced are accessible to the general public. The movements of the marked swans are visualized online on a geographic application. (At the top of the page you have to click on the sentence ‘Track the migration of birds equipped with a GPS transmitter via our geographic application’, more explanation of the application is in the first blog, ‘Track the migration of Bewick swans – equipped with a GPS transmitter! ‘)

At present, we can already find here the migratory routes of 23 Bewick Swans which have been marked in Belgium during the last three winters.

The marked swan routes to different places in arctic Siberia, Jamal and Pechora, will be added soon to give a complete picture of the very astonishing migrations of this species, whose strategies are clearly in development.

The data is updated weekly. However, no updates will take place from mid-May to mid-September as swans breed or spend the summer in the Russian tundra, where they are out of range of a GSM network. However, the GPS location data is stored in the transmitter and will be broadcast as soon as the swans have GSM reception again.