Ringing birds at the Melville Koppies
Why members of the Wits Bird Club spent one early morning ringing birds.
It was not the early bird that caught the worm one early autumn Saturday morning. Instead, it was the bird ringers from the Wits Bird Club that caught birds worth ringing.
By about 05:20 these bird ringers were at the Melville Koppies Nature Reserve to conduct some bird ringing. Before the sun even touched the sky, they made sure their mist net was up so they could safely capture birds.
According to the South African Bird Ringing Unit (Safring), ringing/banding is described as a process that sees registered ringers permanently mark wild birds to study their lifecycles (births, deaths, age of breeding and survival rates), habits, populations and movements. To do this, they use metal rings (marked with unique numbers) they attach to the bird for future identification.
The birding club will generally ring birds once a month throughout the year. One of the club’s members, Riaan Janse van Rensburg, said along with all the interesting data they collect, what they also learn is whether certain birds come back to the Melville Koppies each year after their migratory time. The data collected is sent to Safring which is then stored electronically and made available.
What piqued the club’s interest was that on the day they found an abundance of one particular bird, the Karoo thrush, as its numbers were out of the ordinary.
Janse van Rensburg explained to become a qualified ringer you go through a training process where you will work under a qualified ringer as your mentor. During this time, you will be required to at least ring about 500 birds of over 50 species and show your capability in measuring the birds, application of the ring, and handling of the birds. Once you have done this, you are qualified and your mentor can sign you off through an application to Safring on your behalf to promote you as a ringer.
He jokingly described club members and others like them as ‘twitchers.’ These are said to be birders whose appreciation for birds surpasses that of a bird watcher in that they would go to the extreme in watching birds. “Ringer is for those people who want to get up close and personal with the birds and gain great knowledge of birds. This isn’t for someone who just wants to pass the time.”
His interest in birds started through his aunt a few years ago. It was her keen interest in birds that rubbed off on him and from then it matured. While sitting at the koppies, he could easily name a bird by hearing it’s sound, “This is purely through spending a lot of time out in the field and surrounding yourself with people who know they are willing to transfer.”
He said that if you are to ask a twitcher what their favourite bird is they would give two responses – what their favourite garden bird is and what their favourite all-time bird is. His favourite garden bird is the black-collared barbet, whose sound is actually his ringtone, while his all-time favourite bird is the secretary bird, as it is its regal look among other aspects he finds fascinating.
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