Ringing
Audouin Gull chicks
On Monday 13 June, Peter Green, Ana and I
joined a group of Parque employees and other
personnel at the Salinas in Torrevieja for the purpose of ringing the
Audouin gull chicks.
The Audouin gull is a threatened species
and the population at Torrevieja is extremely important both nationally and
internationally. Ringing of these birds
allows scientific data related to these birds to be collected. Two rings are
placed on each bird, a metal one which has a unique number,this is registered
internationally so that if any bird is captured (or found dead) all data
relating to that bird can be accessed. On the other leg a plastic ring with
prominent black numbers and letters on a white background is placed. These
codes can be read using binoculars etc so the birds do not need to be captured,
this provides information regarding age, population movement etc.
We were split into teams consisting of one
qualified bird ringer, a person in charge of the rings, a recorder and two
people to find the chicks (that was Peter and I in our team). Within two hours 200 birds had been found and
rung. In addition our team found an adult gull injured by a fishing hook and a
chick with a damaged wing, both these were taken for appropriate veterinary
care.
Audouin Gull chick
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