Irish Bird Ringing Data - Thrushes

Since 1975, a total of eight species of Thrush have been ringed in Ireland.  Those include the resident breeders of Blackbird, Song Thrush & Mistle Thrush, the rare breeder, Ring Ouzel and the wintering thrushes of Fieldfare and Redwing.  There are also a couple of very rare species to have been ringed -  White's Thrush and  Grey-cheeked Thrush.  There are a further three species of Thrush that have been recorded in Ireland which include - Hermit Thrush, Siberian Thrush and Swainson's Thrush. 
Three (4) White's Thrush have been trapped in Ireland, with the first at Copeland Bird Observatory (CBO) back in 1993.  The only other ringing records came in 2009 but the data doesn't quite match - certainly two but potentially three were ringed in Ireland in this year.  This is very impressive for an eastern Thrush, with only 12 ringed in the UK and Ireland since 1909. 
Four Grey-cheeked Thrush have been ringed in Ireland, coming in a 10 year period between 1982-91.  The bird caught at Cape Clear in October 1982 was a first for Ireland.  A total of 16 have been caught in the UK and Ireland since 1909. 


Blackbird

The Blackbird is one of the most recognisable species in Ireland, which frequent gardens up and down the island.  Come winter we receive a large influx of birds from northern Europe, which join our resident birds - a few of which will move south for winter.
The Scandinavian birds tend to differ from our resident Blackbirds, often larger, heavier and can have slight differences in appearance i.e. the bill colouration.
  
The graph below shows a decline in the numbers being trapped before it levels off over the last 20 years.  Copeland BO shows a steady decline in the totals trapped at the Observatory below. 

  1956-65          1966-75          1976-85          1986-95          1996-05

1,235                996                  499                  343                220

The suggested explanation for the decline in numbers caught at the Observatory over the years is the ever increasing bright lights of Belfast and the mainland.  With this, this lighthouse no longer attracts the birds that it used to.  This may account for some of downward trend across the board but probably limited to only a couple of the coastal ringing sites. 
Since 1977 there have been 12,013 trapped in the north and 13,366 in the south.  The most productive year in Ireland was 1985 with 1,429 and the least 2008, with 394. 

 Given the number of Blackbird recoveries, I have separated them into three maps.  The first shows the birds coming in from Britain, the second from Europe and the third, birds leaving Ireland.  The data presented includes only a selection of the recoveries, with many more not available to me.  Between 1983-86 for example there were further recoveries not included - 13 Norway, 2 Netherlands, 3 Denmark, 3 Sweden and 1 Germany. 
A few of the most distant movements include birds to Latvia, Finland and northern Norway, some moving over 2,000km.  Some of the key sites during migration include Helgoland, off the Germany Coast and the Lincolnshire/Yorkshire coast, particularly Spurn Point.   
For both the birds coming in and going out, the majority fit well within the general south west/north east movements, with only a few birds moving in different directions. 
Unfortunately for the Blackbirds, most of the recoveries come from dead birds - cats and cars are the big killers. 

 Blackbirds coming into Ireland from Britain

Blackbirds coming into Ireland from Europe

Blackbirds leaving Ireland

Ring Ouzel

The Ring Ouzel is a rare breeder in Ireland with only a handful of pairs each year in the mountains of the north and west.  It is more commonly seen on passage during the spring and autumn with c25-50 birds a year.  The majority of these records come from the south coast around Cork and Wexford, with a few records every other year in Northern Ireland.
I was fortunate to get my hands on the bird pictured above last year - the first trapped in the north since 2000. 
The graph doesn't present much in the way of trends but the birds were certainly caught on a regular basis in the late seventies to eighties.  At Copeland BO they trapped 21 Ring Ouzel from 1954-1984 and only two in the thirty years since - including the bird above.  Only 17 have been caught across Ireland since 1977 and apparently no recoveries. 

Fieldfare
 

These Nordic beauties spend the winter in Ireland roving around in mixed flocks with Redwings.  The species was traditionally targeted at roost sites and orchards but there has been little focus on the species in recent years. 
A total of 2,432 Fieldfare have been ringed in Ireland since 1975 - the most productive year was in 1985 with 495 birds, 399 of those in the south.  I can't comment on the weather conditions in Scandinavia in 1985 or ringing effort in Ireland but it was also the most productive year for Blackbird, Redwings and Song Thrush.  There were no birds caught in 1994 and 1998. 

The recovery map below is quite misleading in that it would have you believe that these birds are passing through Ireland and wintering in southern Europe.  None of the movements into southern Europe go directly from Ireland but are during subsequent winters, having returned to Scandinavia to breed at least once.  These birds have, for some reason, chosen pastures new to spend the winter months, perhaps simply wind direction at the start of migration. 
A ringing site in Lucan, Dublin during the 1980's was very productive and accounts for 9 of the 17 birds ringed in Ireland that were recovered elsewhere.  These include - 3 to Finland, 2 to Italy, 3 Norway and 1 to France.   This site has managed a number of recaptures of birds over many years, proving some birds are site faithful. 
The species is quite different from Blackbird for example, because few of these birds are caught at coastal bird observatories, but rather, further inland in breeding/wintering locations.  This, may be in part, due to the fact the birds migrate in late autumn when many of the observatories have closed, particularly in Scandinavia. 

Fieldfare recoveries into (green) and out (red) of Ireland 

Redwing

In Ireland, the majority of the Redwings that hit our shores in winter are supposedly of the Icelandic race 'Turdus iliacus coburni' with a few of the nominate Northern European race ' Turdus iliacus iliacus'. 
Despite being similar in nature and the obvious spike that correlates with Fieldfare, the two graphs differ, with Redwing fluctuating much more. 
A total of 4,519 have been ringed in Ireland since 1975.  As mentioned above, 1985 seen the most trapped, with 488 and the lowest was only 20 caught in both 2000 & 2001.  I probably would have expected the capture rate between Redwing/Fieldfare to have been greater than roughly 2/1. 

The ringing recoveries show a greater number of the nominate race coming into Ireland but this is probably down to the limited number of ringers in Iceland.  A couple of the Icelandic recoveries are very nice as they refer to birds ringed in the nest, so their birth location is known.  Some of the recoveries out of Ireland are far flung with Finland, Portugal, Poland and Cyprus.  The Portuguese and Cypriot recoveries come in subsequent winters and not directly from Ireland.  It might be possible to presume that the two birds wintering in Portugal are of the Icelandic race and step stone through Ireland - particularly the bird ringed at the Bridges of Ross, Clare.  The bird in Cyprus being so far east, is more likely from the nominate race.  The greatest distance travelled is a minimum of 2,943km from Russia. 
Redwings tend to frequent bird observatories more so than Fieldfare but there are many more of them and they are easily attracted to tape lures. 
Again, not all the recoveries are available and there are at least another 8 from Iceland, 2 Norway, 1 Finland, 1 Netherlands and 1 Fair Isle, Shetland.

Redwing recoveries coming into (green) and out (red) of Ireland

Check out Peter Alkers blog -'Two in a Bush' for nice comparisons of the two races
http://two-in-a-bush.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/redwings-coburni-v-iliacus.html



Song Thrush

A resident breeder with an influx of birds from the continent for the winter.  Similar to the Blackbird, the continental birds can appear different from our resident birds, again often larger & heavier, with more greyish feathering above and whiter below.  Unfortunately this is yet another species that is declining greatly and this is reciprocated in the ringing totals.  It will be interesting to see the ringing results for 2015, as it looks to have been a better breeding season going by the number of juveniles we caught personally. 
A total of 8,401 Song Thrush have been ringed in Ireland since 1975, again 1985 was the best year with 420 and the worst was 2002 with 37. 

The birds coming into Ireland seem to come in two main directions - a westerly passage through east England via Germany and Denmark and then a south west movement pouring in via the Northern Isles of Scotland, possibly from Scandinavia.  There are also then some probable Scottish breeding birds than winter in Ireland.  There is at least one Norwegian recovery but I do not have the precise details of this one.  The bird recovered in Ponferrada, Spain is interesting and is presumably a bird that passed through Ireland (Great Saltee) in late autumn to winter in Iberia. 

Song Thrush recoveries coming into (green) and out (red) of Ireland

Check out Peter Alkers blog -Two in a Bush for nice comparisons of the two races
http://two-in-a-bush.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/thrush-fest.html



Mistle Thrush

A large resident Thrush with a handful of immigrants during the winter.  There is a steady decline in the numbers being caught, which correlates with the decreasing populations nationwide.  The species is not easily caught, as they tend to stick to the high trees and open ground.  The best opportunities are around fruiting trees/bushes in winter or chicks in the nest. 
This is one of the few species where there have been many more ringed in the north - 770 than south - 338 since 1977.  In 1987, 92 birds were trapped in Ireland, falling to the lowest catches of 3 in 2012 and 2014. 
There are apparently no recoveries of this species coming into or leaving Ireland. 

Early December Ringing

This morning Steve, Thom and I met up with a group from Copeland Bird Observatory at a winter ringing site near Antrim.  The site has been used in previous winters for training sessions and this time around there were five trainers and four trainees.  It was a frosty morning with the mercury hitting -2 °C but there were plenty of birds about.  The site has a wealth of fruit trees and berry bushes, which attracts Thrushes in decent numbers with c50 Redwing, c40 Blackbird, c10 Song Thrush, c10 Fieldfare and a couple of Mistle Thrush around this morning.  The feeders brought in plenty of tits and finches but the a real draw was an area of winter cereal cover which held c35 Linnet, c30 Chaffinch, c25 House Sparrow, c15 Lesser Redpoll plus a few other bits and pieces - a proper net combination here should work well in the next sessions. 

                             Sparrowhawk                           SF

 



It was a productive morning with 84 birds processed of 16 different species.  One of the first birds to hit the nets was a nice male Sparrowhawk flying low around the feeding station.  A Grey Wagtail amongst the Apple trees was unexpected but gladly welcomed by one of the trainees.  All four trainees managed to get new species, including two who got multiple new birds.  We only managed to trap two species of Thrush but 11 new Blackbirds is very good, a few of which were certainly of a continental origin.  We wrapped up at 12.30 just before the rain started. 

Ringing Totals 13/12/2015                                     
                                      
                                        New       Retrap           

Blackbird                        11              2 

Blue Tit                            8               2

Chaffinch                        22              1         

Coal Tit                            2               3              

Dunnock                          2

Goldcrest                         1

Goldfinch                         1

Great Tit                           6               3

Grey Wagtail                   1

Lesser Redpoll                4

Linnet                               7

Long-tailed Tit                                 1

Redwing                           1                                                             

Robin                                2               2

Sparrowhawk                  1

Wren                                1

Total                                70              14  

On Tuesday morning Ken hosted Steve for a bit of training in his back garden and were joined by John later in the morning.  The morning was an ideal weather window with dry, calm conditions, plus it wasn't freezing for the ringers! 

They caught a large number of birds and had to close a couple of nets in order to cope - hence Johns arrival.  A total of 102 birds were processed, with perhaps 35% of these having been caught before.  There are a few nice birds in the garden at the moment including two Brambling and two wintering Blackcaps.  Unfortunately the former weren't caught but they might stick around with the c50 Chaffinch.  The Sparrowhawk ringed last time out has continued to visit daily and was retrapped. 

                                                               Sparrowhawk                                                           SF

Ringing Totals 08/12/2015                                     
                                      
                                   Processed           

Blackbird                        3

Blackcap                         2

Blue Tit                          11

Chaffinch                       32             

Coal Tit                           9                             

Dunnock                         1

Goldcrest                        1

Goldfinch                       24

Great Tit                         18                                                             

Sparrowhawk                  1

Total                               102     

 

 

Irish Bird Ringing Data - Crests and Tits

Five species of Tit have been ringed in Ireland since 1975 and one of those I have included by name default - Bearded Tit (Reedling).  The other four are widespread breeders - Blue, Coal, Great and Long-tailed Tit.  The only other species of Tit recorded in Ireland that has not been ringed is Marsh Tit, following a short lived unofficial introduction of birds in a woodland in the south. 
Only two species of Crest have been ringed/recorded in Ireland - Goldcrest, a widespread breeder and Firecrest, an uncommon passage migrant.  A close relative from North America has also been recorded - Ruby-crowned Kinglet, with one being trapped at Cape Clear BO in 2013.  It is very rare in the Western Palearctic with only two previous records which came from Iceland in the 90's.  Given that only one RcK has been ringed, I won't go into any detail.


Firecrest

Firecrest are almost annual along the south coast on migration, but records have tailed off a bit in recent years.  2015 proved to be a very productive year with 40+ birds recorded between Sept-Nov.  The previous years were less so, with potentially just the one in 2014, 12 in 2013, three in 2012 and two in 2011.  Generally most of the records come in the Autumn but in the odd year, such as 2013, they came in the spring.  One or two birds will also winter in Ireland but these records are few and far between.  Firecrest is a rare bird in Northern Ireland.
The graph below shows a trend of greater encounters with birds through the 80's and early 90's with much fewer records since 2008, with only one record.  A total of 79 were ringed in this period in the south, with six in the north.  There were at least seven ringed in Ireland before this period but again I only have partial records for then.       

Goldcrest

The Goldcrest is a common breeder throughout Irelands forests and they are one of the few species who inhabit the dense coniferous plantations.  The majority of the birds are caught at coastal migration points and offshore islands in the spring and autumn.  They are typically short lived, averaging about two years, so the majority caught are first year birds.
There was a huge invasion this autumn, when Goldcrests hit Britain in their thousands, with perhaps 100+ bearing rings from Fennoscandia, Poland, Belgium, Holland, Denmark and the Baltic States.  Ireland didn't seem to feel the effects and ourselves (CCRG) on the north coast actually caught less than last year with increased effort!
Going by the graph below it would seem that these eruptions have happened before, particularly in 1989 when 1,825 were ringed, followed by the second most productive year of 1988 with 1,182.  There was probably association in these two years, with a good spring following a bountiful autumn.  2009 was the quietest year with only 91 caught across Ireland.
A total of 19,535 have been ringed in Ireland since 1975. 

The recovery map below shows a strong correlation of birds using the Irish Sea islands and the south coast of England but that is where the majority of the ringers assemble!  I am surprised that there is only a single record coming from the north, as I thought there would have been quite a few more.  Copeland Bird Observatory is a focal point but it is difficult to say if these birds are coming out of Ireland or if they are coming from Scandinavia/Scotland without more ringing records.  Certainly when the birds pass through/leave Ireland they all seem to move south/east, with all recoveries going to Britain, although the results may be biased as I discounted all inter-Ireland movements which may have shown otherwise. 

       Goldcrest recoveries - green in, red out

Bearded Tit

As of 2011, Bearded Tits returned to Ireland as a breeding bird after a 26 year absence.  They again bred in Co. Wexford in 2012 & 2013 and may have done so in 2014-15 but I do not have the data - there have certainly been birds present.  The species seems to come in small fluxes along the east coast, with birds recorded in Louth in 1966, Wicklow 1974-1985 (breeding proved in 1976 and 1982-1985) and further records in Wexford in 1989 and Cork 1979-81.
The only ringing to target the species took place in the early 80's and ceased when breeding was confirmed in 1985. 

Long-tailed Tit

A tiny resident breeder, that spends much of the year in family groups, often numbering over a dozen birds.  During ringing sessions, it is often the case that if you catch one or two of the family group, the rest will join them in the pockets of the mist nets, responding to their relatives calls. 
The numbers caught from year to year is very staggered with some striking differences.  The species notoriously does not fair well in prolonged cold spells and may go in some way to explain the changes but undoubtedly not the only reason.  The trends between north and south show the complete opposite at times and this suggests that ringing effort may be a major factor.
The greatest number ringed in one year was in 1975 with 383, with the lowest coming in 2001 with 72.  A total of 7,788 have been ringed in Ireland since 1975. 

In general most of our Tit species are rather sedentary and this is the reason that there are so few recoveries.  From the data available to me, I found only two movements in or out of Ireland. 
The first was a Great Tit ringed at Portmore Lough, Co. Antrim, that found its way to Greater Manchester four years later, unfortunately succumbing to a window.  The second was a fast moving Blue Tit that made its way from Bardsey Bird Observatory to Cape Clear Bird Observatory, covering 354 km in 18 days.  I also included two interesting inter-Ireland movements.  One was a Great Tit moving from Dublin to County Tyrone and the other was a Coal Tit moving 268m km from Cape Clear BO to County Offaly in the midlands - potentially an immigrant to Ireland. 

                                                     Tit recoveries - Green in, red out and blue inter



Great Tit

Another common breeding species across Ireland, generally in wooded areas.  The majority are caught at feeding stations, plus many pullus ringed in nest boxes. 
There appears to a general trend of increasing numbers of Great Tit being ringed since 1975.  The lowest total came in 1978 with 266 birds trapped, rising to the most productive year in 2014 with 1,441.  A total of 31,566 have been ringed in Ireland since 1975.

Blue Tit

A species similar to Great Tit in habits and trapped in a similar manner.  They are a delightful looking bird but are feisty little things and can be tricky to extract from mist nets.
Overall the trend seems relatively steady, although there are many more peaks and a few troughs.  1985 was the most productive year with 2,140 and 1978 the least with 690.  A total of 53,232 have been ringed in Ireland since 1975. 

Coal Tit

The majority of these records will refer to the Irish race of Coal Tit, Periparus ater hibernicus.  British and Continental Coal Tits do appear on the offshore islands and coastal watch points in autumn but no distinction has been made for birds ringed.
Generally the number of Coal Tits ringed seems steady with only one large dip (256 & 214) in 2006-2007 and a large spike (933) in 2012.  The majority of Coal Tits are ringed around feeding stations and the numbers really increase in prolonged bad weather in winter, when the birds descend from the coniferous plantations into Irish gardens. 
A total of 9,193 Coal Tits have been ringed in Northern Ireland since 1977, with 7,588 in the south.

Late Autumn into Winter

After such a dry and calm spell through early/mid autumn, late autumn made up for any short comings on the expected and it has been abysmal.  We only managed one session in the last few weeks of November and the conditions for that were breezy.  We kicked off the winter ringing yesterday morning at Portstewart Strand, which will be the last visit to the site in 2015.

                                       Skylark                                JC

Steve was successful in his recent C permit application and now, armed with a couple of nets and a bunch of rings, I'm sure he will be very active over the winter.
To help him get set up with his first ringing site, John, along with Thom headed out west, to Steve's family farm near Gortin in central Tyrone, on Sunday the 22nd of November.  John had first visited the site back in March and did a little tester ringing, catching a number of Chaffinch and tits.
 As I mentioned earlier it was a bit breezy and damp at times but still workable and safe.  They set two nets - one through a hedgerow and another in an area of woodland. 

 

                      Treecreeper              JC

There were large numbers of Fieldfare and Redwing feeding on haws through the hedgerows which resulted in four Redwing being caught.  The catch was decent for the conditions and coverage and it could prove to be a decent site for Steve to work.  The hedgerow net caught the majority of the birds, with the woodland net only chipping in with a couple of birds after 11.30.


Ringing Totals 22/11/2015                                      
                                      
                                       New        Retrap           

Blackbird                        2               

Blue Tit                           4              

Coal Tit                           1               1                             

Great Tit                         3               2           

Redwing                         4                    

Treecreeper                    1                                                                            

Wren                               1                

Total                               16              3              

 

Yesterday, John and I took the morning off work and we had a last bash at Portstewart Strand for the 2015 season.  We has hoped to get the last session in before the end of November but the weather put a stop to that.  The conditions were favourable with complete cloud cover and light winds.  The wind did pick up to around 10-12mph for a couple of short spells but generally stayed around 3-4mph. 
We arrived around an hour before sunrise and set a couple of nets each in east and west rides plus further nets through the open gorse rides and the alders. 
It was very quite overhead with little to get excited about.  As usual there seemed to be quite a few Blackbirds and Song thrushes calling pre dawn, followed by the Dunnocks, Robins and Wrens.  There weren't many finches on show now that the feeding station is gone and the berries are all but gone.

                                                Reed Bunting                                                JC

The catch for December was good with some quality birds including a possible wintering Blackcap, two Reed Bunting and one Redwing. We also caught another Skylark, making it our 5th this year, adding to the three last year.  From 2013 back to 1975 there had only been 88 ringed in Northern Ireland, the last one coming in the year 2000. 


Ringing Totals 03/12/2015                                      
                                      
                                       New        Retrap           

Blackcap                         1

Blue Tit                           2

Bullfinch                         1               

Chaffinch                        1              

Coal Tit                                             2                             

Dunnock                                           3

Goldcrest                                          1           

Linnet                              5

Redwing                          1

Reed Bunting                  2

Robin                                                2                                                          

Skylark                            1

Song Thrush                   2                                                                                                                      

Total                               16               8              

We have been given permission to use a similar site on the other side of the estuary, at Castlerock Golf Club and we plan to do a little work there soon, to make some net rides.  The benefit of this site is that the Sea Buckthorn plants are female (supposedly) and are berry laden.  The concentration of birds tends to be much higher here into late winter because of the fruit and it usually has a few Fieldfare and Blackcap knocking about. 

A new project we will be initiating over the winter period is setting up a couple of new nest box schemes on the north-east coast of Northern Ireland, following the completion of Kens long-term studies on titmice at the University campus in Coleraine.
We have already gained permission for one woodland and we will be searching for another ideal location.  The hope is to provide tempting accommodation for Redstarts and Pied Flycatchers that pass along the east coast in Spring before they flit over to Scotland where they breed in Dumfries and Galloway. 
It is an ambitious plan given that Redstarts last attempted to breed in 2011 (and failed) in County Kerry and before that, 2003.  Pied Flycatchers haven't bred (proven) since 2003 in County Wicklow and before that 1999.
They have bred along the north east coast before, including a pair of Pied Flycatchers in a nest box in Breen Oakwood in 1985.  This was the first successful breeding attempt recorded in Ireland and in the same year, two pairs attempted to breed in boxes in County Wicklow, but failed.  Nest boxes had only been installed in Breen Oakwood in 1984, following 120 boxes being installed, two years previous across three oak woodlands in Wicklow.  So the idea works anyway!    
There is a lack of substantial habitat in Northern Ireland which the species favour, but also, with the absence of Woodpeckers and veteran trees, there are insufficient nesting holes.  The limited holes that do exist, are occupied by resident breeders such as Blue Tits in early spring, before the RS and PF reach our shores. 
To combat the problem of early occupancy by titmice, we plan to use the tried and tested method of placing nest boxes in groups of four/five.  The idea is that Blue and Great Tits are quite territorial and will not nest in close proximity of their own kind, thus leaving one or two boxes unoccupied for the target species to inhabit.  We may also remove the front of a few boxes and place them in more concealed locations to attract the likes of Robins or Spotted Flycatchers. 
It is project that is unlikely to be successful but you certainly have no chance if you don't try!