Siskins greetings

Siskin ( Carduelis spinus)

The above are pictures from my first ringing session last week.


I hadn't expected to be given the opportunity to study birds up close but it was something I was interested in and one I gratefully took. After a chance encounter with my local ringing group one morning they agreed to teach me the basics of the strictly controlled process of bird ringing.

To begin, ringing involves placing lightweight, uniquely numbered, metal ring around a birds' tarsus (leg) The method we used and the most common for catching passerines, is a vertical 'mist net'. After flying into this extremely fine net, birds are held securely in pockets and removed soon after so as to avoid stress and chance of injury. Bird ringing has significant conservation value as it provides data relevant to the study of  bird populations, survival rates, distribution and genetic relationships.

I spent much of the day 'scribing' or recording each bird's details (ring number, age/sex, moult, wing length and weight) in the log. In doing so I got to observe the birds up close and discover things that I never would have just by watching in the field; the way the iris of a Dunnock changes from a dull brown to a fiery red as it ages, the appearance of feathers in different stages of moult or how little chiffchaffs weigh in comparison to other birds for example. The work is intimate and subtle and fascinating.

Being able to see birds this close is undoubtedly one of the perks of ringing. Just look at the dazzling plumage on the Siskin above, its distinctly forked tail and clearly defined primaries. Normally an encounter with these birds would see them chirruping away at the top of a tall Alder somewhere, identifiable but not so detailed. However I realised that the joy in ringing is not just in these brief, privileged close-ups, it's in the mapping and recording of data, discovering patterns and observing changes - the long term gain. The rewards of this are surely equal to any sighting. The Siskin above, was significant in that it was a very early record for the species on the site. It may have been missed in the field.


Although generally only a tiny percentage of ringed birds get recaptured, those that do can provide important information, particularly relating to the distribution and movement of species. During the course of the day, we caught over 40 blackcaps - evidence that the site is a clearly an important breeding ground and feeding station for the species. One of the birds had also been ringed before. Due to his knowledge and expertise the ringer was able to establish that this bird had been ringed on the same site the year before. This suggests that either the bird is resident and part of a growing population of UK wintering blackcaps or that following migration last autumn, it returned to the same site again. The latter theory (and perhaps the most likely in this case) is proof of the remarkable 'homing' instinct of migrating birds, something of which there is still a lot to learn.

Ringing also helps determine the health of individuals and perhaps, by association, local populations. The session revealed that the weight of blue tits caught was lower than might be expected. With winter coming these birds should be feeding and building up body fat, but the data suggested they were struggling. We felt this may be due to a lack of food put out for birds on feeders in summer.


What a great day, a privilege...there is so much to learn but I can't wait for the next one.

Blue Tit (Parus caeruleus) Everyone is familiar with these delighfully feisty garden birds but few get close enough to appreciate just how blue they are! This individual was aged as a 3 year old male, its striking colouring an important factor in determining this.

btw I should point out that this session was not directly related to my current placement and I was supervised by a fully licensed ringer at all times.