TOPSHOT - Austrian biologist and conservationist and Waldrappteam Managing Director Dr. Johannes Fritz and foster mother Fabienne Tilg lead bald ibises, also called waldrapps, on microlight aircraft during the 2026 migration of bald ibises in the Besançon area of eastern France, on September 1, 2026. Since the end of August, thirty birds based in Germany have been travelling the 1,800 kilometres of their winter migration to Spain; the difference being that, on their first leg of the journey, these young bald ibises, reared in captivity, are being guided by humans on board a microlight. For over 20 years, the Waldrappteam association (Waldrapp being one of the names for the bald ibis, or hermit ibis, in English) has been running this project to reintroduce these birds with their black plumage, bald heads and long red beaks into the wild. They are an endangered species and are found mainly in captivity in Europe. Originally found around the Mediterranean, the bald ibis has suffered a severe decline due to human pressure and the degradation of grasslands. (Photo by SEBASTIEN BOZON / AFP via Getty Images)