|
Wheatear number 8979876 Five years old male wheatear, ringed at Lista May 2007.
Spring 2012: a reunion with 8979876 and continued positive trend for chiffchaff and blackcap
Fig 1: Chiffchaff numbers, spring season 1990-2012
|
Fig 2: Blackcap numbers, spring season 1990-2012
|
A total of 1221 birds were ringed during spring season 2012, distributed over 50 different species. This is about 200 more birds compared to last spring. The number of retrapped birds amounts to 105, the majority originally ringed at Lista. We also had the joy of meeting again, for the second time, a male wheatear that was ringed at the observatory five years ago, and that now returns to Lista every spring to breed.
By M. Wold
One of the things we gain knowledge about from ringing birds, is their life span. Wheatear number 8979876 was ringed as a chick at Lista Bird Observatory in July 2007. Three years after, on May 19th, it was retrapped at the observatory, and again on May 11 this year. It is now five years old, and has flown the distance Africa - Lista a number times.
Ringing numbers spring 2012 A total of 1221 birds were ringed during spring season 2012. The table below shows the numbers for the ten most common birds this season, compared to the numbers from spring 2011.
Robin is on top with 194 new birds ringed. This is quite a high number compared to the 61 robins ringed during the same period last year, and well above the average for the last 23 years. Blackbird experienced an all-time low since 1990 with only 44 new birds ringed, half of the 23-year average of 88 birds. These variations are nevertheless completely in line with the expected yearly variations for these species.
A notable thing from last autumn was the unusual high numbers of chiffchaffs. This seems to continue into spring season, about twice as many birds were ringed this spring compared to spring 2011. Fig. 1 shows the number of ringed chiffchaffs, and the last 10 years seem to have been a good period for chiffchaffs. Another species that seems to have a positive long-term trend is blackcap. Fig. 2 shows the ringing numbers over the last 23 years, and apart from the yearly variations, there is a notable positive trend.
Art | Vår 2012 | Vår 2011 | 1. Robin (Erithacus rubecula) | 194 | 61 | 2. Willow warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus) | 148 | 91 | 3. Lesser redpoll (Carduelis cabaret) | 102 | 250 | 4. Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita) | 79 | 42 | 5. Siskin (Carduelis spinus) | 76 | 131 | 6. Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe) | 60 | 44 | 7. Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla) | 50 | 35 | 7. Linnet (Carduelis cannabina) | 50 | 43 | 8. Whitethroat (Sylvia communis) | 47 | 55 | 9. Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) | 45 | 11 |
10. Blackbird (Turdus merula) | 44 | 159 |
The bird observatory has a summer break during breeding season, and opens again on July 15th.
|
|
Sorry, but we are outside of the spring and autum seasons.
Detailed log
|
|