Bird Ringing at West Thurrock
Roger Taylor
The ringing of birds in this country started officially in
1909. The administration of the scheme was transferred to
the British Trust for Ornithology in 1937, although all
rings bear the address of the Natural History Museum, London,
where the Ringing Office was originally located. Birds, of
course, are international travellers and the European
Ringing Committee (EURING) was set up in 1963 to standardise
data-gathering techniques between member countries.
Ringing in Great Britain is governed by the Protection of
Birds Act and all ringers must comply with the law, as well
as the rules of the scheme, and are trained to a high
standard before being allowed to handle birds unsupervised.
When a bird is ringed a uniquely-numbered metal ring bearing
an address to which recovery should be reported is fastened
round one leg. Birds are ringed as nestlings or as adults
and whilst being handled are usually weighed and the length
of one wing measured. This information can, for instance,
be used for studies of weight changes during migration or
cold weather and the separation of subspecies by relative
size. A note is also taken of moult or any unusual plumage
characteristics.
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