In order to keep track of our young peregrines and find out where they head off to in the future, the chicks were today ringed by licensed and experienced bird ringers from the mid-Derby Ringing Group. This involved taking the chicks carefully from the nest for around 20 minutes to weigh, measure and fit a metal closed ring on the birds’ right leg. These small metal rings have a unique number on them which is logged with the Brtish Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and should the peregrine be found dead or watched at a nest elsewhere, anyone that can read the ring and check with the BTO will be able to find out that it was one of our birds.
The small metal rings are only really readable of the bird is retrapped by ringers or found dead or maybe watched on camera at another nest, so in order to make it more easy for the general birdwatcher to read, a bright coloured plastic ring is also fitted to the left leg, This large plastic ring is called a Darvic ring and is bright coloured and has large letters that should be able to be read through binoculars or a spotting scope while the bird is perched. Unfortunately, today there was a problem with the Darvic rings and they were therefore not fitted so as not to cause any problems with the birds in the future. New rings have been ordered and these will be fitted sometime later this week, The second disturbance of the birds will be very quick and kept to a minimum as the birds have already been close ringed, weighed and measured. Disturbing the birds at the nest for this short period of time for scientific purposes is done under licence and won’t cause any significant distress to the chicks or the adults.
Darvic rings are easily identifiable through binoculars. The female chick has been fitted with 4Z
Pergrine chicks in the nestbox
Taking the chicks for ringing
The ringing process
One of the chicks patiently waiting his turn
forming an orderly queue!
The ringing process
The ringing process
Looking a bit glum about it all!
The final check of the rings
weighing and measuring the chicks
and back home to mum
Are the sexes of the brood known ?
Hi Ian
We now know there are three males and a female chick
Is the youngest chick female as she looks much bigger than the rest ?
Yes, the female is the biggest chick, she’s considerably bigger than the males. In birds of prey the females are nearly always much bigger than the females.