The White Stork, known as GBY9 or Jordi, hatched last year from a ground nest at Knepp Wilding in West Sussex as part of the White Stork Project and flew east before being spotted in Italy, a path never before recorded in the project’s history.
Flying alongside his brother, Jordi spent time in the north-east of Italy and has since flown west to a marsh within a small wildlife park, south of Turin.
White Storks were once considered a native species in Britain (Image: Sue Barnett)
Professor Aldina Franco, from the University of East Anglia, said one of the most remarkable part of the storks’ journey was crossing mountain peaks at more than 3,000 metres altitude.
She added that this was “particularly impressive for storks- a soaring species that likes to migrate using thermals.”
Thermals are rising columns of warm air that allow birds to gain altitude without wasting energy.
The storks have been spotted in Italy by several observers.
The White Stork Project was first founded in 2016 with a pair of non-flying birds from Poland, donated by Warsaw zoo.
Each year, their offspring spend time at Knepp Estate and Wadhurst Park, both in Sussex, to develop site loyalty, before being released into the wild.
The aim is that the storks then return to Sussex when they are ready to breed.
White Storks were originally native to Britain but are unlikely to return as a breeding species without interventions such as the project.