Abstract
THE British Birds marking scheme has, for the fifth year in succession, established a record of number of birds ringed, 29,554 for 1932 as against 28,610 in the previous year. The grand total of British birds marked under this scheme has now reached the enormous figure of 347,548. It is a; gratifying feature of the past years work that one-fourth of the total for the year is made up of birds ringed and released from traps. Trapping ought to give a larger proportion of recoveries than examination of birds casually found, and this is most desirable if general deductions are to be made from the recovered birds. It is surprising how small a proportion of accessible bird life comes under close scrutiny. From the inception of the scheme until the end of 1932, no less than 25,171 swallows have been ringed, and of these only 189 (0.8 per cent) have been recovered. The warblers also are an elusive race; of 8,054 willow warblers only 34 have been seen again, of 892 and 824 sedge- and garden-warblers respectively only one each; and of 567 blackcaps none at all have been reported again. On the other hand, the birds of prey and the ducks generally yield high recoveries, suggestive perhaps of intensity of slaughter; and of common resident birds the redbreast has the relatively high (but actually surprisingly low) return of 761 out of 12,696 ringed, 6.5 per cent. The low returns throughout point in part to the high death-rate amongst young birds.
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Ringing of British Birds in 1932. Nature 132, 237 (1933). https://doi.org/10.1038/132237c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/132237c0