Bird Ringing

BirdLife Northern Gauteng has a large and active ringing group consisting of around 30 A ringers (qualified) and about 10 C ringers (trainees). The BLNG ringing calendar includes regular ringing venues around Pretoria as well as camps further afield.

A club ring is held once a month, in which BLNG members have the opportunity to visit the ringers as part of a club outing. This offers the chance to get close-up views of a range of bird species, and is especially popular with children.

Bird ringing/banding is the process whereby registered ringers permanently mark wild birds to study their lifecycles (births, deaths, age of breeding and survival rates), habits, populations and movements. Metal rings (marked with unique numbers) are attached to the bird for future identification. Ringing is only permitted by qualified and registered ringers or under their supervision. Bird ringing in Southern African is managed by the Southern Africa Ringing Unit (SAFRING).

SAFRING maintains a database of recoveries of Southern African birds that can be used to establish information about movement and survival. Every bird ringed has the potential to contribute to the SAFRING recovery database. Since 1982, this database has been supplemented by a re-trap database, supplied by ringers on a voluntary basis. The database is a resource which may be used by researchers, conservation biologists and conservation managers.