Ringing and related durable methods of marking birds

Abstract

Of all the methods of marking birds, the close ring is certainly the most ubiquitous in Britain and Ireland. Its use, however, is almost entirely confined to birds reared in captivity. The chief reason for this is that the close ring has to be passed up over the part-grown foot to its final position on the tarsus and this operation has to be carried out before the bird, if it is a passerine, is six or seven days old at the latest. The reason for this early ringing is that a ring which will pass over a fully grown foot can equally well come off again or, what is far worse, may slip down sufficiently to trap the toes without actually coming off, thus rendering the foot useless.

Robert Spencer is a Senior Research Officer in the Ringing and Migration Section of the British Trust for Ornithology. He has administered the British Bird Ringing Scheme since 1954 and is General Secretary of the European Union for Bird Ringing.