A bird in the hand is worth a lot to Scots researchers

Tuesday 29 May 2012

A PROJECT to find out more about how birds behave in the wild has been launched.

A CLOSER LOOK: Rebecca Nicol with one of the birds in the study.

Custom byline text:

Researchers want to find out how birds change from one year to the next, and for how long they survive.

The team has been trapping and tagging birds at the Blair Drummond estate in Stirling to find out more about the condition of individual creatures.

The birds are fitted with a ring bearing a unique number, which allows researchers to identify the birds if they are recaught. The creatures are weighed and measured, and their age and sex is also recorded.It is hoped the same birds will be retrapped next year, when they will be examined again and the two sets of data will be compared.The findings will help the team monitor the condition and lifespan of individual birds, and build up a picture of how long they survive in the wild.They are then able to feed their findings into a conservation strategy.The project has no fixed end point and the team hope to collect as much information as possible about individual birds as they can.It involves a research team from Glasgow University, the Tay Ringing Group and the British Trust for Ornithology, and began in autumn last year.So far, about 400 birds have been tagged.They include common species like blue tits, great tits, robins and blackbirds, but also summer migratory species such as willow warblers and whitethroats.Doctor Stewart White, from the University of Glasgow, said: "The results allow you to look at how a bird's condition has changed, and how long it survives for. "It allows you to build up a picture of the biodiversity of birds."The longer we keep doing the study, and the more often we collect the birds, the more we can work out things about them."The more we know and the more knowledge we have means we are better able to protect them – ultimately it is all about conservation."The hope is that we will retrap the same birds next year. It's amazing to hold a bird in your hand and think that it has been to Africa and back."

Commenting & Moderation

We moderate all comments on HeraldScotland on either a pre-moderated or post-moderated basis. If you're a relatively new user then your comments will be reviewed before publication and if we know you well then your comments will be subject to moderation only if other users or the moderators believe you've broken the rules, which are available here.

Moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours. Please be patient if your posts are not approved instantly.

A bird in the hand is worth a lot to Scots researchers

Commenting & Moderation

MOST READ

SPONSORED LINKS

MOST COMMENTED