The study of bird migration
As summer gives way to fall, millions of birds make their way to their wintering grounds. This is a perfect time to watch birds migration. Bird-ringing is one of the methods in studying migrations. Now, anyone can join the research by reporting ringed bird to the Ornithological Station of the PAS Museum and Institute of Zoology.
Black-headed gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus). Photo by P. Zieliński, Ornithological Station of the PAS Museum and Institute of Zoology.
Among birds that leave Poland to begin their journey towards the South are long-distance migrants, traveling even to southern Africa, such as storks, swallows, swifts, and terns, as well as numerous species of birds that migrate for shorter distances. These autumn migrations are caused primarily by seasonal changes in food abundance, so necessary in the breeding season.
Different methods of marking birds are used to better understand the migration related behavior, namely bird migration routes (flyways), flight duration, wintering areas, life-span and survival rate and last but not least bird biology.
The most popular technique to monitor bird population and their movements is bird ringing. In Poland it is coordinated by the Polish Bird Ringing Center at the Ornithological Station of the PAS Museum and Institute of Zoology based in in the western part of the Sobiszewo Island (seaside district of Gdańsk).
The Center deals with ecological education, conducts trainings for ringers and collects data on birds ringed in Poland (since 1931 more than 4.2 million specimens have been ringed). It also collects information on national and foreign-ringed birds and data from returned rings (recoveries).
Around 150, 000 new birds are ringed in Poland each year and approximately 120, 000 recoveries appear yearly.
Now, anyone can join the research. Just go birding and if you find ringed bird report it to the Polish Bird Ringing Center at the Ornithological Station of the PAS Museum and Institute of Zoology by completing the form.
The Ornithological Station runs long-term ornithological research projects with a particular emphasis on bird conservation. It also carries out state environmental monitoring, provides a wide range of ecological consulting services and nature-based programs for schools using its own collection of bird specimens.
Source of information: Museum and Institute of Zoology of the Polish Academy of Sciences
