After being treated at the Toulouse Veterinary School clinic, Tille took off again in May 2019. -

Xerius Tracking

  • Riddled with lead, this black kite was treated at the Toulouse Veterinary School then fitted with a beacon by the company Xerius Tracking to see its movements.

  • He has already made two migratory trips to Africa in over a year, using the same route.

  • The bird feeds in landfills and is believed to be from Montauban.

His peregrinations are tracked!

Since May 2019, Tille, a black kite treated at the clinic for new pets and wildlife at the Toulouse veterinary school, has been spotted daily thanks to a solar beacon from the Toulouse company Xerius Tracking.

Thanks to the GPS installed on the back of this raptor released into the wild after being riddled with lead shot, scientists and the company specializing in tracking wildlife have enriched their knowledge of the migration and behavior of this protected species.

After making a first migration to Africa in 2019, Tille returned to Occitania this spring before returning to African countries in August.

Similar migration trajectory

"He should reach Mali by Monday because he is currently in Mauritania, 365 km from his stopping point of his migration in 2019, details Virginie Périlhon-Delepoulle, project manager at Xerius Tracking.

It is impressive to see that it takes the same route as last year, within six kilometers.

It took about three weeks to reach Africa, a journey that is not without danger with hunting or flying over countries at war ”.

Every morning, the manager follows the bird's path, thanks to the satellite data of the beacon.

These are also open source to allow scientists to follow its migration.

Last year, Tille crossed the Pyrenees in July, then Spain, Morocco, Mauritania, Mali to complete his trip to Guinea.

For his return flight to France, he took the same route in April 2020 but passing closer to the coast.

Opportunist in landfills

“As Tille still has lead in his body, we wondered about the impact on his orientation but apparently everything is fine,” says Virginie Périlhon-Delepoulle.

We also thought that this black kite could be native to Switzerland but we noticed during his return from migration that he came rather from the region of Montauban.

During the confinement, he even remained several days above a wild landfill where he fed, opportunistically, with about fifty other kites ”.

Since May 2019, Tille, the black kite tracked by tag, has made two migrations to Africa.

- Xerius Tracking

The Toulouse company follows many animals, which allows it to test the resistance and the capacities of its beacons.

A white stork will soon be equipped with it to study the trajectory of its migration and find out whether it favors passage through Mali or Somalia.

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  • Toulouse

  • Science

  • Gps

  • Animals

  • Biodiversity