Ringed Goldfinch - where do they ring birds in Ireland?

force eleven

I got a flock or is it a 'charm' of 16 Goldfinches into the garden this morning - all feeding from the peanut feeders I have up, but I saw one of them with a small orange ring on its leg, obviously trapped and ringed somewhere, but I was wondering how many ringers there are in Ireland, and Westmeath/Offaly in particular? Any way to identify from the colour of the ring where it may have been ringed? Cheers.:)

Lovely birds by the way, the kids love seeing them.

jmkennedyie

Congrats!

Not sure how many ringers. The rangers will have a better idea. It is tightly controlled...license required etc. I have come across it at Bird Observatories, at seabird colonies, and adhoc site wildlife surveys.

Bird ringing in Ireland (and UK) is coordinated by BTO. Lots of info here: http://www.bto.org/ringing/ringinfo/index.htm#ringing.

Includes an online form for you to record your sighting.

Let us know if you dig out a match. Note that it is possible the bird was ringed recently - it might take a while for its details to be uploaded by the ringer.

force eleven

Thanks for the info. I submitted that form, but I guess without knowing the code on the ring,it is probably like tracing a car without a reg number...we'll see. Interesting I had 22 goldfinches and 10 chaffinches and a couple of greenfinches at the same time in the garden yesterday (they all seem to love peanuts) - just out behind the kitchen window - and happened to see them all scatter as a sparrowhawk suddenly appeared on the fence not 15 feet from the kitchen window, I've noticed this hawk before with its darting speed from low along the field and hedges, I wonder if it was succesful at picking any of them off....that's nature I suppose.

jmkennedyie

Cool. I had a sparrowhawk drop by regularly in previous years. It seemed to follow a certain route. They hunt by surprise. It knew where the feeders were so dived in to them directly in case there was something on them. In dozens of ambushes I never wittnessed a catch, but just the once I did come across it on the grass after having caught one, eating away. A wonderful privilege.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

It's quite probable that this bird was not ringed anywhere near you. Some of our breeding birds migrate to the south-western Europe, e.g. France and Spain. Our autumn population is increased by the passage of European birds. So this individual could have been ringed anywhere in Ireland or further afield.

flutered

i believe that birds can only be close ringed at a very early age i think about four or five days old. so it is quite possible that it is an escapee.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

flutered wrote: »

i believe that birds can only be close ringed at a very early age i think about four or five days old. so it is quite possible that it is an escapee.

Yes, usually only young birds are close ringed but who mentioned it was close ringed? Most likely it was not. Certainly not an escapee! We ring adult birds all the time. You have lost me

thebishop

I found a dead oyster catcher recently that had been ringed in Iceland.

Half-cocked

Anyone based around Dublin Bay watch out for ringed Brent Geese. There were already plenty around that were ringed up around Strangford Lough and in Iceland, but now 250 have been ringed in Dublin last week!

Chonky

Goldfinch are frequently kept as songbirds, both as pure and hybrid with canary. Could well be an escapee that "force eleven" saw two years ago.