In for a penny, will try an answer to the points I feel capable of answering!
Quote:I've read in the magazine of the Dutch RSPB ( "Vogelbescherming") that it had been scientifically proved right that ringed male birds attracted significantly less females than unringed birds, that is, when the males have one ring only. Apparently they appear asymmetric to the females and are therefor considered less attractive.
I would imagine their findings are not colaborated by other independent findings. I would be most interested for a translated paper on their work. Certainly in my various studies i.e. Pied Flycatcher, Redstart, Blue and Great Tit, Black-eared, Northern and Black Wheatears I would argue there was no identifiable difference in ringed males finding mates!
Quote: How do catching and ringing of Long Eared Owls on their winter roosts affect their daily cycle? They are caught in daytime, when they're supposed to be sleeping. Is this stressfull for the owls? Does it affect their ability to hunt succesfully the following night? Are they put back in the tree they were in, or do they fly off after release?
Anyone involved with this specific type of ringing can shed some light on this?
If you know the group or individuals doing this study/research (assuming it is in Holland), then would it not make better sense to ask them directly, rather than ask those not involved to speculate?
Quote: It has been known that Waterrails kill small birds caught in mist nets set up in reedbeds, and after killing them eating their brains. How is this being dealt with by bird ringers? Have there been taking measures to prevent this?
Anyone familiar with this practical problem would like to answer?
I have at many different times been involved in ringing at stations where there are large reedbeds and also where there have been good numbers of Waterrails. I have never personally experienced the problem you suggest, but I can tell you that where we were ringing the nets were visited every 10 minutes, so maybe this had a discouraging affect on this particular behaviour.
Quote: What is the impact on the daily cycle of a breeding pair of birds of prey, let's say Goshawk, when bird ringers approach the nesting tree, climb it, scare off the parents, put the chicks in sacks, lower them down to be weighed, measured and ringed on the ground, the man up in the tree staying there all the time sometimes being attacked by the stressed parents, then the chicks being hauled up again, put back in the nest and the ringing party taking off?
Anyone involved with this type of ringing like to answer
I have plenty of experience of ringing young raptors at the nest. Largely the success and least disturbance is achieved by timing. Young are monitored (from a distance where adults continue to feed, brood and visit the nest) until the age of development has reached a stage where there is an extremely strong bond between parents and young. In fact the attacks on intruders by the parents add to the confirmation of the strength for this bond. Always the objective has to be to spend least time at the nest site. In my experience after retreating a safe distance away from the nest after ringing has taken place the adults very quickly return. I have ‘never’ experienced a negative affect through ringing raptor chicks, either in mortality or desertion.
Quote: I've heard a story of a ringnecked Bewick's Swan or a Whooper ( sorry for not being specific but it's years ago ) who drowned in severe winter conditions when ice was forming around the ring, and accumulating to the point the bird no longer could hold its head up. I state specifically it's hearsay, but from a trustworthy source, and not scientifically reported unfortunately.
How can anyone possibly or sensibly answer to conjecture or supposition in this particular case?
There are at least some answers and sad it is to be asked somehow to justify something so important. Its amazing isn’t it, self righteousness and Holier than thou point scoring over ringing and ringers! Even more depressing is this subject has had so many airings and all the questions asked here are already answered within the many threads contained herein. Just take a little trouble to sift through these threads and doubters can save themselves the time and trouble it takes to post-up repeats on the same theme. Many of the anti-ringing posts are full of supposition and ‘think of the worse case scenario and then make it appear real’, that it misrepresents ringing so thoroughly as to loose credibility; At least to those who know better. You have the prime example here of one person describing how a bird must have been trapped at least six times and on each occasion be rewarded with yet another ring! The fact that it would have been attired with the rings on a single occasion loses some of its potency somehow.
Unlike so many facets of our mutual pursuit of admiring birds, ringing has a governing authority which can withdraw licensing from any person proved to be in anyway acting to the detriment of those birds he/she is ringing or attempting to ring. In other words it is regulated and policed. If any observation is made where it is felt a ringer is mistreating or harming a bird, then it is for the observer to report this to the governing authorities, of course naming the ringer and location etc. Facts are important accompaniments to any complaint (here or to any controlling authorities) in order to be taken seriously! As is amply demonstrated in previous posts, perception can be well off the mark from reality.
