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Three GPS-tracked Grey Herons Migrated Very Differently but Returned to the Same Breeding Grounds

Adult grey heron perched on a branch in Parc Georges-Valbon, France
Research · Ecology

Three adult grey herons (Ardea cinerea) tracked by GPS over several years used markedly different migration strategies, but all repeatedly returned to the same breeding grounds. The study, first published on 4 September 2026, followed birds breeding in northern Poland and eastern Germany between 2012 and 2020.

The researchers divided the annual cycle into breeding, wintering, spring migration and autumn migration. Two of the three herons changed wintering sites between years, showing that winter-site fidelity differed strongly among individuals. In contrast, all three showed strict fidelity to their breeding grounds across consecutive seasons.

Migration distances ranged from 175 to 1,758 km. The bird breeding in eastern Germany travelled the shortest distances, averaging about 221 km. The three birds also differed in the number of stopovers and in the timing of annual-cycle phases. During spring migration they followed more direct routes between seasonal areas than in autumn, and overall they made fewer autumn stopovers than values reported for other grey heron populations.

The authors describe the work as a multi-year case study and as the first long-term, high-resolution account of year-round movements in GPS-tracked grey herons from Central Europe. The results show that individuals breeding within the same broader region can use contrasting and flexible migration strategies while maintaining strong fidelity to their breeding sites.

Sources and image credit

  1. Manikowska-Ślepowrońska, B., Cieślińska, K., Ślepowroński, K., et al. (2026). Individual year-round movement patterns of the GPS-tracked Grey Herons (Ardea cinerea) in Central Europe: a multi-year case study. PeerJ, 14, e21659. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.21659Primary peer-reviewed research article first published 4 September 2026. Three adult Grey Herons breeding in northern Poland and eastern Germany were GPS-tracked between 2012 and 2020. Migration distances ranged from 175 to 1,758 km; two birds changed wintering areas among years, while all three showed strict breeding-site fidelity.
  2. Manikowska-Ślepowrońska, B., Cieślińska, K., Ślepowroński, K., Siekiera, J., Goc, M., Iliszko, L. M., & Jakubas, D. (2025). Habitat selectivity during the annual life cycle of the grey Heron Ardea cinerea revealed by GPS-tracking. Animal Biotelemetry, 13, 41. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40317-025-00436-yRelated 2025 paper using the same three tracked birds but addressing habitat selection. Its methods explicitly state that year-round movement strategies were being presented separately, confirming that the 2026 PeerJ article is a distinct analysis rather than a duplicate publication.

Image: Alexis Lours / Wikimedia Commons — adult grey heron in Parc Georges-Valbon, France, 3 April 2022; Wikimedia Commons Featured Picture and Quality Image; representative species image, not one of the tracked birds · CC BY 4.0 · Source

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