Colour Ringing Birds

Colour Ringing Birds
Originally, survival was calculated using dead recoveries reported by members of the public, which works well for large birds that tend to die in obvious places, such as Barn Owls, but less well for smaller birds and those living in remote areas. Fortunately, analytical developments have enabled a shift of focus, and survival rates are increasingly calculated using recaptures of live birds by ringers.
However, this method does have some limitations:
• Catching (or recapturing) adults of some larger species, such as waders, wildfowl, gulls, herons and raptors, may require specialist techniques, although some (particularly herons and raptors) can more easily be ringed as chicks.
• Some species, such as House Sparrow and Starling, are extremely wary, so the chance of recapturing a bird once a ring has been fitted is quite low.
This is where colour-marking birds makes a huge difference in our knowledge and both of these issues can be overcome by colour-marking. Using one of a variety of marks, such as lightweight plastic rings, leg flags, neck collars or wing tags, the identity of an individual bird can be established remotely, without the need for recapture. Individual colour rings can be fitted in unique combinations but increasingly engraved rings are used, bearing a sequence of numbers and/or letters, as used on neck collars, wing tags and leg flags. Another benefit of colour marks is that they enable non-ringers to engage with ringing projects by recording and reporting birds. This in turn allows us to more efficiently monitor survival and movements.

More information can be found on the BTO website here: https://www.bto.org/our-science/projects/bird-ringing-scheme/about-ringing/why-colour-mark-birds