The ringing of birds has contributed a vast amount of knowledge (see here for history). "Ringing helps investigate how long birds live and when and where they move, which is vital information for bird conservation. Placing alight, uniquely numbered ring around a bird’s leg is a reliable and harmless method of identifying birds as individuals. Some projects use colour rings to allow identification without catching birds." British Museum website
Our humble grey wagtails will add to this vast database. We ringed 5 small chicks on day 5 after hatching and by day 12 they were fully grown and had left the nest to follow their parents along the small stream, learning where and what to eat!
Here are two nest sites, one under a tussock on an old bridge buttress, and one right under a small bridge.
And here were the young from the tussock nest all ready to leave the nest any day.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment