Is Bird Ringing Still Needed?

As a bird ringing project oganizer, I function in a specific ornithological community of researchers dedicated to this particular method of work. Outside of this "bubble", but still in the wildlife conservancy sector, many Biologists are rightfully amazed by new technologies and spectacular results they deliver - Geolocators, PIT tags, radio- and especially - GPS Transmitters. They can provide comprehensive data not only about the bird's location, but also on the weather conditions, detailed migration route and speed in almost real time. In many cases we don't even have to capture the bird to register those details. A very substantial improvement in comparison to ringing, and full automatisation.

If we look even further and wider - at the General Public, persons that aren't professionally involved in wildlife research and conservation, bird ringing is perceived just as an interesting hobby - a leisure activity that allows us to spend our free time in a nice, creative way, surrounded by Nature.

So, lets ask a question from outside of our bubble: Is all this bird ringing still needed?

Bird banding, being much simpler in terms of technique than electronic solutions, covers those aspects of work that modern technologies don't. It's significantly cheaper and at the same time - less prone to failures. Broken ring is much simpler to fix than a broken GPS transmitter. The more complicated the system is, the more components it has that can break.

Because of their higher prices, modern solutions are often restricted only to certain funded programmes, on a smaller spatial and temporal scale. Those projects are mostly focused on particular bird species or systematic group. The scale of bird ringing is uncomparably larger in terms of space, time and species, producing an impressive, long-term and constantly growing database that is now the fuel for scientific modelling. For example, Operation Baltic Bird Ringing Scheme, where we accept Volunteers, is a constant research effort going on, year after year, for more than half a century!

An important aspect of a proper bird ringing process is to take many additional measurements, samples and observations that can't be covered by other methods. Biometrics, like wing formula, moulting pattern, fat score and other parameters are a valuable input in the database. We also check the bird for parasites, assess the health condition and sometimes take blood samples. Often it allows suitable actions to be taken to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. It is also a significant contribution in numerous veterinary research programmes.

Long-term studies run on the basis of bird banding are a remarkable tool to monitor macro-scale population trends, which is necessary to plan conservation efforts. Proper interpretation of the ringing data also helps to identify the root causes of particular population declines, which results in well-informed, targeted conservation actions.

In this context, bird banding makes it possible to see the Bigger Picture. Because of its long timespan we can look at various phenomena, links and factors in a wider context and connect the dots. Only because of this research method we can track the effect of climate change on bird migration patterns, which affects the phenology and operation of entire Ecosystems. It wouldn't be possible without such a long-term study.

Birds are a very valuable and clear indicator of ecosystem health. This fact is used not only by professionsl scientists, but also by citizen science projects involving more and more Participants. Latest technological advances allow us to take the research even further. Modern and traditional approach don't have to compete and exclude each other. In fact, the Synergy of various methodologies is needed to produce robust datasets that can be used to understand and navigate growing wildlife conservancy challenges.

Keywords: wild areas network, bird ringing, bird migration, mist netting, ornithology, wildlife volunteering, poland, operation baltic, field zoology, birding, bird ringer training